A discussion of the work of environmental spokeperson Sigurd Olson and a poetry reading will be presented in March as a part of UNLV's University Forum lecture series.

"Crafting Conservation: Sigurd Olson and the Invention of American Environmentalism" will be presented March 6 by C. Brant Short, a communication professor at Northern Arizona University. He will discuss how Olson, through his speeches and writings, played a significant role in altering Americans' views on environmental issues, as well as helping to create a public mandate for wilderness preservation.

Short's lecture will also focus on Olson's role in crafting the conservation consensus that emerged in the 1950s and became central to the environmental movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Bruce Whiteman, head of UCLA's William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, will give a poetry reading on March 12.

Published widely in Canada as a book reviewer and critic, Whiteman is best known for his continuing long poem "The Invisible World Is in Decline."

A collection of Whiteman's selected poems, titled "Visible Stars," was published in 19' His recent publications also include books on art history and publishing history, as well as a translation of the Quebecois poet Francois Charron.

All University Forum lectures are free and open to the public. Both the March 6 and March 12 lectures are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of UNLV's Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History.

The University Forum lecture series is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and underwritten by the UNLV Foundation.

For additional information on the series, call 895-3401.