JOHNSON CITY – The “Wild, Wild Weather” will be the topic of an upcoming lecture at the East Tennessee State University and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum and Visitor Center at the Gray Fossil Site on Saturday, March 23, at noon. The event is open to the public, and guests are invited to bring their lunch.

The talk will be given by geoscientist David Jennings, a lecturer in ETSU’s Department of Geosciences, who has spent several years studying weather and climate.

“Dramatic weather events are a normal part of everyday life and are representative of the natural processes on Earth,” Jennings said. “Often when such events occur, the impact on human actions and the environment are quite intense and sometimes tragic. That is why it is important to understand the causes of the events and how we can remain safe.

“On the other hand, we do not have all the answers about why and how dramatic weather events develop the way they do. Consequently, we try to study these occurrences with a variety of techniques in order to save as many lives as possible.”

A native of East Tennessee and Florida, Jennings teaches courses in Earth science, meteorology, and cultural and regional geography. The award-winning instructor and speaker has led numerous field courses at locations in Canada, Europe, Australia, Central America, the Pacific Islands and the U.S. His research has focused on topics such as weather and climate, human-environment interactions, meteorological hazards, southern pine needles, resource management, and modeling vegetation dynamics with geographic information systems (GIS).

Jennings’ “Wild, Wild Weather” presentation is part of the lunchtime lecture series hosted by the museum and is sponsored by the ETSU Don Sundquist Center of Excellence in Paleontology. Interested persons should visit www.etsu.edu/naturalhistorymuseum for dates and times of future lectures.

The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, or to arrange special assistance for persons with disabilities, call (866) 202-6223.