Anne LaBastille, Cornell University alumna (B.S. '55, Ph.D. '69), adjunct professor of natural resources at Cornell and author of more than a dozen books, will be on campus Thursday, April 29, for a public reading and signing of her new book.

The reading will occur during a reception scheduled from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in 304 Fernow Hall on the Cornell campus; it is free and open to the public. While on campus, LaBastille also will meet with various faculty and students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

LaBastille, an ecological consultant, writer, photographer and lecturer, recently has published Jaguar Totem (West of the Wind Pub., 1999), an account of her ecological consultancies, which include numerous daring field trips, meetings with world-renowned scientists and travels throughout the world. The book is counterpoint to her "Woodswoman Trilogy," which chronicles her life in the Adirondack wilderness, where she has lived since 1954, in a tiny cabin fashioned after Thoreau's Walden Pond cabin.

The foreward of the new book is written by James Lassoie, chair of Cornell's Department of Natural Resources. Lassoie is collaborating with LaBastille on an ecological restoration project for Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, where she has conducted ecological work for over 30 years.

"Anne's books convey her strong belief that wildlands and wildlife everywhere need constant care and attention," said Lassoie. "Jaguar Totem will be fascinating for anyone with a love for nature and wilderness."