In support of its commitment to educating students about environmental issues, Otterbein College has selected Dr. Richard Alley, a geologist at Pennsylvania State University, as the 2009 Vernon L. Pack Distinguished Lecturer. Alley will present his lecture, Get Rich and Save the World-Or Else: Global Warming, Peak (Whale) Oil, and Our Future, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 27, in the Fritsche Theatre in Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St., Westerville. The lecture will be followed by a reception in the Fisher Gallery in Roush Hall, 27 S. Grove St., Westerville. Both events are free and open to the public.

While on campus from May 18-29, Alley will meet with students in the energy science and society class, advanced environmental studies, and historical geology class to discuss various topics including the role of energy, global warming science, and climate change.

Alley is the current Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences and Associate of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State, where he has worked since 1988. He has been involved with environmental issues for more than 30 years. His research interests focus on abrupt climate changes, glaciers, ice sheet collapse and sea level change. Alley teaches and conducts research on climate records, flow behavior and sedimentary deposits of large ice sheets to aid in prediction of future changes in climate and sea level. His experience includes three field seasons in Antarctica, eight in Greenland and three in Alaska. Alley received his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987.

A leading expert on the subject of climate change, Alley has served both nationally and internationally on advisory panels and steering committees, including chairing the National Research Council's Panel on Abrupt Climate Change and participating in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He has advised numerous governmental officials on environmental issues and has published more than 175 papers. His book, The Two-Mile Time Machine, won the Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award in 2001.

Alley has received many awards for his work within the geology field, including his election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Revelle Medal of the American Geophysical Union and the first Agassiz Medal of the European Geosciences Union Cryospheric Section. He has also received awards from Penn State, including the Faculty Scholar Medal in Science, the Mitchell Innovative Teaching Award and the Faculty Mentoring Award of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

Alley lives in State College, Penn., with his wife and two children. He coaches and plays recreational soccer in his spare time.

The Vernon L. Pack Scholar-in-Residence and Distinguished Lecture Series was established through a $1 million gift from alumnus Vernon L. Pack, a 1950 graduate of the College and resident of Westerville, Ohio.

In accordance with the terms of the endowment, a Distinguished Lecturer visits the campus every other year to address important current issues that will allow the Otterbein community to reflect on ethical, spiritual and social issues. This program will rotate through the five academic divisions of the College, including arts, professional studies, science and mathematics, humanities and social sciences. On alternating years, distinguished scholars will be invited to campus to reside for up to one academic year as part of the Vernon L. Pack Scholar-in-Residence Series to enrich the educational experiences provided to Otterbein students.