Holland Talks Visionary Speakers + Community Conversation
The Holland Talks lecture series invites nationally and internationally recognized experts to lead community conversations about timely and provocative ideas that challenge and broaden understandings of a wide range of topics, including science, technology, the arts, ethics, and philosophy.
Each event in the ongoing lecture series will convene diverse audiences for a ticketed lecture event, alongside programming in the community to expand the conversation and elevate Omaha as a home for cultural and civic discourse.
Spring Speaker
J. DREW LANHAM
Friday, March 7, 2025 // 7PM
Tickets On Sale
General Admission: $20
Members: $15
Holland Talks tickets include free admission to the Luminarium, including time before the lecture to explore the museum. A bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks will be on site during the evening of the event. A selection of Dr. Lanham’s books will be available for sale, though there will not be a designated book signing portion of the evening.
J. Drew Lanham
On Friday, March 7, Kiewit Luminarium is honored to welcome writer and naturalist Dr. J. Drew Lanham. A native of Edgefield, South Carolina, Lanham is the author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, which received the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Southern Book Prize, and was a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal. He is also the author of Sparrow Envy: Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts and Joy is the Justice We Give Ourselves.
Lanham is a birder, naturalist, and hunter-conservationist who has published essays and poetry in publications including Orion, Audubon, Flycatcher, and Wilderness, and in several anthologies.
This exciting conversation will offer a unique opportunity to engage with Dr. Lanham’s perspectives on the convergence of nature, culture, and conservation. He is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Master Teacher at Clemson University, and a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. Dr. Lanham will provide insights on environmental stewardship, diversity in conservation, and the deep connections between people and the natural world. Candid by nature — and because of it — Lanham will examine how conservation must be a rigorous science and evocative art, inviting diversity and race to play active roles in celebrating our natural world.
Thanks to the Generous Support of the Holland Foundation
Holland Talks is made possible through a generous grant from the Holland Foundation. The late Dick Holland established the Holland Foundation to support the arts and education in Omaha. The Foundation funded the original Holland Lecture Series from 2005 through 2017, setting the stage for thought-provoking dialogue in our community.