Wetlands Experts Present Kirk Lecture
April 08, 2015
Wetlands scientist Irving Mendelssohn
An audience of about 200 attended the Paul W. Kirk Jr. Memorial Lecture for Wetlands Ecology held April 7 at Webb University Center.
Featuring the co-founders of The Wetland Foundation, the lecture was made possible by a grant from Allan Kirk, a 1983 biology graduate of the University, to honor his father. Paul Kirk, who died in 2013, taught at Old Dominion for 21 years and was a leader in, among other studies, the biological remediation of oil spills within marine ecosystems.
Botanists Irving Mendelssohn and Karen McKee discussed the topic "Coastal Wetlands and Sea-Level Rise: What Have We Learned?" The next morning, the experts led a private workshop at the Constant Convocation Center.
The lecture was part of the "ODU Presents" series of multidisciplinary speakers that support the University's research and community outreach mission. Allan Kirk has designated his gift to go toward funding research next year.
Kirk is chairman of surgery at Duke University with expertise in transplant immunology that is internationally recognized.