Media Contact:
Angela Cruz Ledford
Media Relations Manager
(561) 547-WILDx222 (o)
(318) 512-7464 (c)
Conservation Leadership Lecture @PalmBeachZoo focuses on #agricultureconservation feat. @mdimmitt Sept. 18, 6-8pm — http://bit.ly/1BGXcL9
Conservation Leadership Lecture at Zoo Focuses on Agriculture
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society is announcing the fourth Conservation Leadership Lecture of 2014, generously sponsored by Florida Crystals Corporation. The lecture is titled “Common Ground: Agriculture and Conservation in Florida’s Heartland,” featuring Mallory Lykes Dimmitt. Dimmitt coordinates the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition project team and serves as the Executive Director.
The Conservation Leadership Lecture will occur on September 18, 2014, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Zoo’s Tropics Café. Guests are invited to enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and Zoo animal encounters from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. before the lecture presentation. Members of the media are invited to pre-interview Dimmitt by telephone ahead of the event.
“Ultimately, protection of the Florida Wildlife Corridor will help provide essential ecosystem services like clean and adequate water supply, clean air, healthy soils and storm protection for the people and the wildlife who call Florida home,” Dimmitt said. “Conservation of Florida’s lands and waters creates opportunities for economic growth through hunting, fishing, bird watching and other forms of tourism, while preserving the livelihoods and cultural heritage unique to the working lands in the Corridor for current and future generations.”
Dimmitt is a seventh generation Floridian who grew up exploring the lands and waters of Florida. Those experiences shaped her love of the outdoors and appreciation of the environment from a young age, as well as her career choice in natural resource conservation and policy. She coordinates the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition project team and serves as the Executive Director. Previously she led The Nature Conservancy’s Colorado Plateau Initiative from Telluride, Colorado, assessing large-scale conservation opportunities in a four-state region of the West, and prior to that, directed the Southwest Colorado Project for the Conservancy’s Colorado Chapter.
Dimmitt has served as a member of Telluride’s Town Council and has worked with local, regional, state, and federal agencies and organizations on natural resource issues. She is a Director, Chairs the Corporate Responsibility Committee, and is a 5th Generation Committee member of the Florida-based family agri-business company, Lykes Brothers Inc. In addition, Mallory serves on the board of Mountainfilm in Telluride, which produces an annual independent documentary film festival and tour.
Dimmitt is an avid adventurer, having most recently participated in six weeks of the 100-day, 1000-mile Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition trek from the Everglades to the Okefenokee in Spring of 2012. She earned her B.S. in Natural Resources from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. She was awarded a Doris Duke Conservation Fellowship at Duke University’s Nicholas School of Environment, where she earned a Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) in Environmental Economics and Policy, as well as a certificate in Non-profit Management.
Seating for the Conservation Leadership Lecture Series is limited. Tickets are $20.00 per person per event. Cocktails & passed hors d’oeuvres will be served. To purchase your tickets online, visit www.palmbeachzoo.org. If you have any questions about the event, please call the Zoo, at (561) 547-WILD ext. 285.
About the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society
The Zoological Society of the Palm Beaches exists to inspire people to act on behalf of wildlife and the natural world. We advance our conservation mission through endangered species propagation, education and support of conservation initiatives in the field. Our commitment to sustainable business practices elevates our capacity to inspire others.
The Palm Beach Zoo is located at 1301 Summit Boulevard in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Zoo is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. For more information, visit www.palmbeachzoo.org.