A unique collaboration of local organizations is bringing an award-winning journalist and photographer to Jamestown for a two-day visit.
On Thursday and Friday, May 5 and 6, Derrick Z. Jackson, co-author of Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird Back to Egg Rock, will speak at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and Jamestown Community College.
Jackson’s visit is made possible through the teamwork of the Audubon Nature Center, Jamestown Community College Earth Awareness Club, Hultquist Library and college program committee, the Katharine Jackson Carnahan Endowment for the Humanities, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and the RTPI Ornithological Club.
On Thursday afternoon, May 5, Jackson will visit JCC’s Planet Earth class. A 6 p.m. meet and greet will be held at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute followed by his presentation at 7 p.m. His evening talk will be aimed at birders – beginners through advanced – and prints of his photographs and signed copies of his book will be available for sale.
At noon on Friday, May 6, Jackson will speak in Jamestown Community College’s Carnahan Theatre. This address will be targeted more to students and community members who may not have as much birding or natural history knowledge. The Peterson Institute and Friday JCC events are free and open to the public.
Photo of Derrick retrieved from http://www.thebostoncalendar.com/
Jackson is a Union of Concerned Scientists Fellow in climate and energy and the Center for Science and Democracy. He was a 2001 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary, a nine-time winner of awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, a two-time commentary winner from the Education Writers Association, a commentary winner from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and co-winner of the Columbia University Meyer Berger Award. He was a winner and/or finalist for national and regional journalism awards 29 of his 37 years at the Boston Globe and Newsday for a wide body of work on local, national, and international politics, sports, public health, civil rights, and the environment.
An accomplished photographer with museum and library exhibits of his images of President Obama, Jackson’s wildlife images have been reprinted by the Audubon Society, the Wilderness Society, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Journal of Wildlife Management.
Jackson is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. He was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University and holds honorary degrees from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Salem State University and the Episcopal Divinity School.
