February 24, 2011 — Gary Nabhan, nationally recognized author and speaker on "food heritage" – the origins and dispersal of plants and animals, and the history of how the foods were prepared, processed, ate and sold – will speak on "Climate Change and Place-Based Food" on March 3 at 5 p.m. in Campbell Hall, room 160. The lecture, free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception and book signing for Nabhan's new book, "Chasing Chiles" (Chelsea Green, 2011).

Nabhan is an award-winning natural history writer and ethnobotanist, recognized by Mother Earth News and Time as a pioneer in the local foods movement. His collaborative conservation work has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Quivira Coalition and the Society for Conservation Biology and with the Vavilov Medal. A pioneer in heirloom seed saving, he raises rare chile peppers orchard crops in Patagonia, Ariz. dating back to the Mission era, when the American Southwest was under Spanish and Mexican rule.

The event is sponsored by the U.Va. Food Collaborative, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the Department of Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, U.Va. Dining, U.Va. Institute for Environmental Negotiation, Student Planning Association, Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Heritage Harvest Festival.