Kier Klepzig, director and research entomologist at the Georgia-based Jones Center at Ichauway, will present Mississippi State's 2026 Carlton Owen Lecture on April 24.

The annual event, hosted by MSU's College of Forest Resources, takes place at 10 a.m. in Thompson Hall's Tully Auditorium.

Part of the university's celebration of Earth Month, Klepzig will deliver the public lecture "Resistant Trees, Resilient Ecosystems and the Long Life of Longleaf Pine," exploring the ecology and management of longleaf pine ecosystems.

A Chicago native who earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Klepzig has spent nearly a decade at the ecosystem research organization in Newton, Georgia.

The Jones Center at Ichauway is a nearly 30,000-acre property founded by the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, and it has grown from a quail hunting preserve into a leading research center for the ecology of longleaf pine ecosystems and associated biodiversity. The privately funded center manages this diverse landscape and partners with universities, including Mississippi State.

The MSU lecture series was established more than 30 years ago by Greenville, South Carolina, resident and 1974 MSU graduate Carlton Owen. The annual lecture focuses on natural resource conservation and leadership.