Elena M. Bennett, professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Science at McGill University, will deliver the next Heuermann Lecture on Jan. 14. Bennett’s research focuses on ecosystem services — or benefits that humans freely gain from the natural environment and properly functioning ecosystems.

The free public talk, “From Planetary Boundaries to Ecosystem Services: Guiding Development on a Changing Planet,” is 7 p.m. at the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center, 2021 Transformation Drive.

The current scale, rate and intensity of human-caused change is unprecedented and has evoked broad discussion about how these changes will affect the future of the planet. Humans are unnecessarily threatening their own security by undermining natural capital and the provision of ecosystem services. In the talk, Bennett will show how the science of ecosystem services can be used to guide natural resource management and limit human-caused change while providing for human well-being.

The Heuermann Lecture series, organized by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, focuses on providing enough food, natural resources and renewable energy for the world’s people, along with securing the sustainability of rural communities where the vital work of producing food and renewable energy occurs.

The lectures are funded by a gift from B. Keith and Norma Heuermann of Phillips. The Heuermanns are longtime university supporters with a strong commitment to Nebraska’s production agriculture, natural resources, rural areas and people.

The lectures are streamed live here and air on campus channel 4. The talks are recorded and air on NET2.