Fred Pearce/ Chris Thomas/ Emma Townshend

Listen to the podcast here or on YouTube

6.30 – 8pm | Tuesday 10 October 2017
Wolfson Theatre, LSE

Speakers
Fred Pearce, Science journalist and author of The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature’s Salvation
Chris Thomas, Professor of Biology, University of York
Emma Townshend, Author and gardening columnist for The Independent on Sunday

Chair
Danielle Sands, Fellow, The Forum; Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture, Royal Holloway, University of London

From parakeets to grey squirrels, signal crayfish to Japanese knotweed, with the help of human beings, non-native species have adeptly squawked, crawled, and rooted themselves in unfamiliar ecosystems. Should we welcome these invaders as a sign of cross-species cosmopolitanism or attempt to remove them? Are some non-native species friends and others foes? When does conservation become ‘green xenophobia’ (Fred Pearce)? In this event, we discuss theoretical and practical responses to non-native species.

Image credit: Eamonn Butler, ‘Palace of Culture Energetik‘