Zahner Lecture set for Aug. 7
Celebrated author and nature writer Georgann Eubanks will be the featured speaker for the next installment of the 2025 Zahner Conservation Lecture Series. Her talk, titled “Finding the Fabulous Ordinary,” will take place on Thursday, Aug. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Highlands Nature Center. This event is free and open to the public, with a small reception to follow.
Drawing from her newest book, The Fabulous Ordinary: Discovering the Natural Wonders of the Wild South, Eubanks takes audiences on a vivid journey through the seasonal joys and stunning biodiversity of the southeastern United States. She explores awe-inspiring moments in nature across seven states including the bugling of elk in the Smokies and half a million purple martins roosting in a South Carolina lake, to glowing gnat larvae in an Alabama canyon and the bloom of trout lilies in a remote Georgia forest.
Eubanks reminds us that the natural world is full of wonder and that many of its most magical moments can be found in ordinary, accessible places, often just a short trip away. Her stories serve not only as inspiration for outdoor exploration but as a call to protect the fragile ecosystems that make these moments possible.
Eubanks is the author of six acclaimed books published by the University of North Carolina Press, including Saving the Wild South: The Fight for Native Plants on the Brink of Extinction, The Month of Their Ripening, and her latest, The Fabulous Ordinary. She is also the author of Rural Astronomy, a recently released memoir-in-poems from EastOver Press. Eubanks is co-principal of Minnow Media, an Emmy-winning documentary production company, and she co-leads the Table Rock Writers Workshop in Little Switzerland. Known for her warm, engaging presentations, she is a sought-after speaker on topics of conservation, culture, and the writing life.
This program is generously sponsored by Kim & Rich Daugherty and Kathy & Bestor Ward.
The Zahner Conservation Lecture Series is a summer tradition in Highlands that brings scientists, authors, conservationists, and environmental leaders to the Highlands Nature Center each week. Lectures are held every Thursday at 6 p.m. through Aug. 14 at the Highlands Nature Center (930 Horse Cove Road).
For the full schedule of lectures, visit www.highlandsbiological.org/zahner. The Highlands Nature Center is part of the Highlands Biological Station, a multi-campus center of Western Carolina University.