February 7, 2002

                                                      NEWS RELEASE
                                                                                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                                                                               For More Information, Contact:
                                                                                               Bud Bunce (503) 233-8373
                                                                                               bbunce@archdpdx.org

SPIRITUALITY AND SCIENCE

        The annual Peace-ing It Together conference is scheduled for Saturday,
March 2, 2002. It will be held at the University of Portland's Buckley Center Auditorium
(5000 N. Willamette Boulevard) from 9:30 am until 12:00 noon. The Peace-ing It
Together conference is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Portland's Office of Justice
and Peace and by the University of Portland. The topic of this year's presentation is
"Spirituality and Science: Linking Watersheds and Oceans." Dr. Jane Lubchenco will be
the keynote speaker.

        Dr. Jane Lubchenco is an environmental scientist and a marine ecologist actively
engaged in teaching, research, and synthesizing and communicating scientific
knowledge to the public and policy makers. Dr. Lubchenco is the Wayne and Gladys
Valley Professor of Marine Biology and distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon
State University. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado College in
1969, a Master of Science degree from the University of Washington in 1971, and her
Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1975. She was Assistant Professor of Biology at
Harvard before moving to OSU in 1978.

        Dr. Lubchenco has long sought to encourage mutual enrichment of science and
religion. She helped to engender support for the Joint Appeal of Religion and Science
on the Environment, has participated in the work of the National Religious Partnership
for the Environment, and has provided strong encouragement for public reflection on
The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good, the new
international pastoral letter by the Catholic bishops of the region. Her talk will make
direct references to the pastoral letter and its significance in linking spirituality and
science as well as watersheds and oceans.

        Dr. Lubchenco's current research interests include marine conservation biology,
biological diversity, ecosystem services, ecological causes and consequences of global
changes, and sustainable ecological systems. Her research focuses on rocky intertidal
shores and nearshore coastal ecosystems in Oregon and around the world with special
emphasis on the ecology of seaweeds, plant-herbivore interactions and community
dynamics.

        Dr. Lubchenco has served on advisory committees for the Smithsonian
Institution, National Research Council, National Marine Fisheries Service, for the U.S.
House of Representatives, National Public Radio, the United Nations Environmental
Programme, and UNESCO. She also provides scientific advice to the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

        The cost for the Peace-ing It Together conference is $10 per person, or $7.00
per person for groups of 3 or more. For further information contact the Office of
Justice and Peace, Archdiocese of Portland, 2838 E. Portland, OR 97214, 503-233-8361.
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