Back in October, the newsletter contained an article “Extinct Species – Back from the Dead?” It came out at the end of the month but it was no Halloween joke – scientists from a wide range of relevant disciplines were assembled privately to talk about the significance of advanced techniques that have already successfully produced a live lamb from an extinct ibex. They invited Dr. Burney to speak because the experiments with new conservation techniques such as rewilding and ecological surrogacy at Makauwahi Cave have shown that thinking well outside the conservation box can lead to exciting breakthroughs.

This group of scientists and conservation experts were talking about what could be the ultimate breakthrough – the “de-extinction” of an extinct species. The group agreed that there were many details and issues to work out, but that it was time to “go public” and broaden the discussion. In that vein, Dr. Burney will be speaking in a day-long public event in the venerable Grosvenor Auditorium at National Geographic in Washington DC on March 15 as part of the TEDxDeExtinction symposium, bringing together experts for the first public discussion. Even if you won’t be in DC on the Ides of March (or have the $100 for a ticket) you might enjoy perusing the event’s web link: tedxdeextinction.org

But we can’t say much about it, as the details are under journalistic embargo until the April issue of National Geographic magazine comes out, with the cover story about de-extinction by noted science author Carl Zimmer. It hits the stands April 1, but once again, we will not be joking.