Emily Monosson, PhD, Environmental Toxicologist, Writer, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will speak on Wednesday, October 4, 7:00–8:15pm at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum.

For more than a century, we have relied on chemical cures to keep our bodies free from disease and our farms free from bugs and weeds. We rarely consider human and agricultural health together, but both are based on the same ecology, and both are being threatened by organisms that have evolved to resist our antibiotics and pesticides. Fortunately, scientists are finding new solutions that work with, rather than against, nature. Emily Monosson will speak about some of science’s most innovative strategies and the growing understanding of how to employ ecology for our own protection. Natural Defense: Enlisting Bugs and Germs to Protect Our Food and Health, Monosson’s newest book, will be available for purchase and signing. Fee: Free for Arboretum members and students, $5 nonmember. Register at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.