The Center for the Environment at Catawba College will host a presentation on “Discovering Yellowstone National Park: Explorations in Science and Art from the American West” on Thursday, April 27.

Heather White, president and CEO of Yellowstone Forever, will speak at 7 p.m. in Room 300 of the center facility. The organization is the official nonprofit partner of Yellowstone National Park.

White is a nationally recognized sustainability leader and expert on environmental law and policy with deep roots in environmental education and conservation biology. She joined the team in Yellowstone after serving as the executive director of Environmental Working Group and previously as the director of education advocacy for National Wildlife Federation.

A native of East Tennessee, White spent her early years hiking and camping with her family in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She first visited Yellowstone when she was 11 as part of a cross-country national park tour with her dad. When she saw Old Faithful on that trip, she says she connected with something larger than herself. The whole experience sparked a deep, lifelong commitment to conservation and a keen interest in the connections between public lands, open spaces, wildlife conservation and people’s overall well-being.

White was named one of the “Top 20 Women Leaders in Sustainability” by Green Building & Design magazine in 2015 and “100 Women to Watch in Wellness” by MindBodyGreen. She is often cited in national press outlets on conservation matters, including MSNBC, PBS, CBS, New York Times, The Guardian and The Washington Post. She serves on several boards, including the Center for the Environment at Catawba College, Plastic Pollution Coalition and the Erin Brockovich Foundation.

White received a bachelor of arts degree in environmental science from the University of Virginia and a J.D. degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law magna cum laude. Early in her academic career, she also studied conservation biology at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and comparative natural resources law in Nairobi, Kenya.

White’s presentation is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To register, visit CenterForTheEnvironment.org or call 704-637-4791.

The Center for the Environment was founded in 1996 to educate the college community and the public about environmental stewardship and sustainability, provide value-added education for students through interaction with thought leaders and opportunities for experiential learning, and bring diverse people and groups together to catalyze sustainable solutions to our most persistent environmental challenges. For more information, visit www.CenterForTheEnvironment.org.