Upcoming lecture by noted scientist-author looks at stress, biology

October 21, 2010

NOTE: TALK RE-SCHEDULED. .

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An award-winning scientist will take a humorous look at biology and stress in a free lecture at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 in the Rion Ballroom of the Reitz Student Union.

The University of Florida Honors Program will host Robert Sapolsky of Stanford University who will deliver a talk titled “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: Stress, Disease, and Coping.” The free lecture is co-sponsored by University Libraries. For more than 25 years, Sapolsky has divided his time between field work with a troop of baboons in Kenya and technical neurological research in the laboratory. As a result, he can move effortlessly from a discussion of pecking orders in primate societies to an explanation of how neurotransmitters work during stress — and get laughs doing it.

All first-year students in the Honors Program received a copy of Sapolsky’s book, “A Primate’s Memoir,” during Preview. This book is an account of his early years as a field biologist and details the culture and political shock he experienced. Funny, touching, and often sad and infuriating, “A Primate’s Memoir” gives readers insight into the personality of a gifted scientist. Sapolsky’s lecture is based on his book, “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” and explains the findings of his research on the baboons he lived with in Africa.

Sapolsky is a MacArthur Fellow, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, and a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research at the National Museum of Kenya. In 2008, National Geographic & PBS aired an hour-long special on stress featuring Sapolsky and his research on the subject.

In addition to “A Primate’s Memoir,” which won the 2001 Bay Area Book Reviewers Award in nonfiction, and “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” Sapolsky has written two other books, “The Trouble with Testosterone,” and “Monkeyluv and Other Essays on our Lives as Animals.” His articles have appeared in publications such as Discover and The New Yorker. Sapolsky was awarded Rockefeller University’s Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science for 2008.