Bear expert to speak
It’s safer to watch grizzly bears on the West Coast than in B.C.’s interior and female black bears seldom seriously attack people, although they act like they will. This is some of the study information the public may hear about when bear expert biologist Steve Herrero comes to Red Deer on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Margaret Parson’s Theatre at Red Deer College. Red Deer River Naturalists and college have partnered to bring the world-renowned bear expert to the city. Herrero will also be speaking about the low productive rate of grizzlies in Banff National Park. He has logged over 5,000 hours of field experience on bears, authored Bear attacks: Their causes and avoidance and is a founding member of the Staying Safe in Bear Country Society. The presentation is free but tickets are only available on a first-come basis from Kerry Wood Nature Centre. Call the centre at 403-346-2010 for tickets.
Humanitarian to speak
The pain and suffering of Rwandan children with AIDS in 1988 witnessed by James Orbinski as a young medical student would have a profound effect on who he would become as a man and a doctor. He went on to help establish the Canadian chapter of Doctors Without Borders, working in places such as Peru during a cholera epidemic, Somalia during the famine and civil war, and Afghanistan. The past international president of Doctors Without Borders, along with his team, helped thousands upon thousands of casualties of the Rwandan civil war and genocide. He was president of the group when it received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. Orbinski is a research scientist and associate professor of family and community medicine and political science at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto. He recently founded Dignitas, an organization focused on community based treatment, care and prevention of HIV in the developing world. He will speak at the second annual Dr. Murray S. Martin Speaker Series at the Lacombe Memorial Centre, Monday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. His topic is Humanity and Global Health: A Canadian Perspective. Tickets to hear Orbinski are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors and $25 for students. They are available at www.ticketweb.ca, or call 1-888-222-6808, or at Bailey Pharmacy in Lacombe or the Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre.
