Ecologist will give lecture at Florida Southern in Lakeland

Hilary Swain, executive director and senior research biologist at Archbold Biological Station, will speak April 2 in the Florida Lecture Series at Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

Swain has dedicated her career to studying, protecting and preserving Florida’s unique ecosystems, Florida Southern said in a news release. Over her decades of work, she has played a vital role in helping neighbors and agencies secure 53,000 acres of contiguous conservation lands.

Archbold Biological Station is an 8,800-acre preserve on the Lake Wales Ridge near Lake Placid.

In the lecture, Swain will reflect on her 30-year tenure at Archbold and explore the station’s vital role in conservation biology, ecosystem sustainability, the survival of vulnerable species and the establishment of the Florida Wildlife Corridor, the release said. A native of Aberdeen, Scotland, Swain earned her doctorate from the University of Newcastle in England.

“Though a native of Scotland, Hilary Swain is a Florida icon,” James M. Denham, director of the Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History, said in the release. “When it comes to her life’s work studying, preserving and advocating for Florida’s precious and distinctive environment, she has few peers. From her perch as director of the world renowned Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida, Hilary has been an effective advocate for science-based conservation.”

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Branscomb Room 202 at 7 p.m.