Environmental activist, scientist and broadcaster David Suzuki will speak at Wayne State University Thursday, April 23, 9:30 a.m., on the topic "Saving Our Planet: The Challenge of the 21st Century." The program will be in Community Arts Auditorium, 450 Reuther Mall. An audience Q&A session will follow the speech.

The presentation is part of the university's Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society (FOCIS) series, which promotes discussion of important current-day issues. The FOCIS series is beginning its third year. Admission is free but advance registration is required. (Visit www.focis.wayne.edu or call 313-577-5550.) Seating in the auditorium will be on a first-come basis. Additional seating will be available in other areas of the building equipped with video monitors. Several books on ecology by Suzuki and by other authors will be available for purchase.

Widely known as host of The Nature of Things, the CBC Television science program syndicated around the world, David Suzuki is adept at explaining the complexities of the natural sciences in understandable terms. He has hosted several widely acclaimed television and radio series. He earned an undergraduate degree in biology from Amherst College and a doctorate in zoology from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining The Nature of Things, he directed Canada's largest genetics laboratory at the University of British Columbia and is a professor emeritus at UBC's Sustainable Development Research Institute. He is a director with the Canadian Civil Liberties Union and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Society.

"It is particularly appropriate that David Suzuki will be our guest speaker during the celebration of Earth Week on campus," says Irvin D. Reid, who created and directs the FOCIS program and holds the Eugene Applebaum Chair in Community Engagement at WSU. "Dr. Suzuki is well-known and admired for his persistent efforts to keep environmental issues in the forefront of public discourse and for his active advocacy of sustainability practices."

Suzuki's visit to Wayne State coincides with a weeklong series of activities on campus and in Midtown Detroit in conjunction with Earth Week. Among them will be a special performance, "Sounds of the Earth," featuring the Wayne State University Wind Symphony conducted by Douglas Bianchi, 6 - 7:30 p.m. on April 23, in Community Arts Auditorium. The program will blend narration, poetry, sound effects, videos and music - all relating to the power of nature, fragility of ecology and sustainability of the planet.

In the spirit of Earth Week, the FOCIS office is helping the university raise money for planting trees on the WSU campus, at Detroit Public School locations and in the Midtown area. The FOCIS program also is working with various Detroit schools to raise awareness of the importance of recycling and to implement recycling programs. At the April 23 program, containers will be available for attendees to drop off recyclable plastic containers, paper, batteries, cell phones and light bulbs.

For more information on the April 23 FOCIS program and to make reservations for the Suzuki speech or the "Sounds of the Earth" performance, visit www.focis.wayne.edu or call 313-577-5550.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students.