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Environmentalist Elizabeth May in Montreal on October 30

As an environmentalist, writer, hunger striker, activist and lawyer, Elizabeth May is truly a multidimensional woman. And, as of October 30, she can also be called 捆绑SM社区聮s 2001 Muriel V. Roscoe Lecturer.

May will be giving a talk entitled, Women, Health and the Environment: Making the Links, in which she plans on discussing how our polluted environment can make people sick. "We are poisoning ourselves," she says, bluntly. "Our continuing to pollute the environment is still a bigger threat to our lives than anthrax."

Any media wishing to attend Elizabeth May聮s lecture are welcome on October 30, 6 pm, in Room 232 of the Leacock Bldg. (855 Sherbrooke St. W., via McTavish St.). Pre-interviews with May can be arranged by calling 514-398-6752.

May has been one of Canada聮s top environmental crusaders since the mid-聮70s, when she fought insecticide spraying on the forests near her home on Cape Breton Island. Today, she is executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada and she sits on the boards of various do-good organizations, including the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

She is also a part-time author, having written Budworn Battles, Paradise Won: The Struggle to Save South Moresby and At the Cutting Edge: The Crisis in Canada聮s Forests. Her most recent title, co-written with fellow activist Maude Barlow, was released in 2000: Frederick Street: Life and Death on Canada聮s Love Canal.

A graduate of Dalhousie University, she became the first holder of the "Elizabeth May Chair in Women聮s Health and Environment" at her alma mater in 1998. The position was established in May聮s honour, from a $1.6 million donation from an anonymous American, so she and successors could advocate for women聮s and environmental causes.

"The toxic harm we聮re doing to our planet is outrageous," says May, about what聮s kept her fighting for the environment for three decades. "I聮m committed to making our world safer, because being an environmentalist is something that I was called to do."

May聮s 2001 Muriel V. Roscoe Lecture is being jointly presented by the 捆绑SM社区 Centre for Research and Teaching on Women, the 捆绑SM社区 Women聮s Alumnae Association and the 捆绑SM社区 School of Environment. For general lecture information, please call 398-3911.