The 2024-25 season of the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues will conclude with “The Cosmic Perspective,” a sold-out lecture by astrophysicist, author, science communicator and planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson.
The ticketed Earth Day event is 7:30 p.m. April 22 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. The Thompson Forum is an event co-sponsor, offering a $10 discount code and distributing 100 free tickets to photo contest winners, undergraduate students, science teachers and the public via giveaways by KRNU, KZUM, the Center for Great Plains Studies, the University of Nebraska State Museum and Branched Oak Observatory.
The Thompson Forum season is organized around the theme “Lessons from the Natural World” and explores the beauty, wonder and wisdom of our living planet and vast universe. It opened Sept. 24 with a conversation with bestselling author and bird enthusiast Amy Tan and continued with a nature journaling workshop by author Aimee Nezhukumatathil on Oct. 17-18 and a lecture by science journalist Ed Yong on March 25. The recording of Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s workshop is available until April 16 and the recording of Ed Yong’s talk is available until April 24.
In addition to these featured events, the Thompson Forum hosted five Cooper Conversations on related topics: birding and belonging, nature art, the mental health benefits of nature, conservation photography and holistic health care. It also hosted a photo contest, receiving 221 submissions from 81 photographers. The contest featured four judged categories, as well as a People’s Choice award. Winners, announced March 25, were invited to a reception with Yong and received tickets to the Tyson event. Winners received additional age-appropriate prizes, including Wild Great Plains Conference registrations; gifts from the university's Maps and More Store; and books by Tan, Yong and photographer Michael Forsberg.
The winning entries were:
- People’s Choice: "Pond" by Logan Trimberger, first grade, Elkhorn, Nebraska
- Little Bluestems (grades K-8): "Nature’s Glitter" by Jaden C., seventh grade, Weston, Nebraska
- Honeybees (grades 9-12): "Cat's Yawn" by Sammi Lener, 11th grade, Fremont, Nebraska
- Goldenrods (undergraduate students): "Chameleon Crossing" by Caden Connelly, senior fisheries and wildlife major, Lincoln, Nebraska
- Meadowlarks (adult): "Urban Crane" by Dakota Altman, Lincoln, Nebraska
The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, Lied Center and University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The series was established in 1988 with the purpose of bringing a diversity of viewpoints on international and public policy issues to the university and people of Nebraska to promote understanding and encourage discussion.
