Inaugurated in 1996, the annual Otis Lecture features a prominent speaker who visits the campus for a short residency, meeting with students and faculty, especially in environmental studies, to share their interests and discuss topics of concern.

Past Otis Lecturers

• 1996: Max Oelschlaeger, author of The Idea of Wilderness.
• 1997: Arlene Blum, pioneer woman mountain climber, author of Annapurna, A Woman’s Place.
• 1998: Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge.
• 1999: Barry Lopez, author of Arctic Dreams.
• 2000: Richard Nelson, author of The Island Within.
• 2001: Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasure and Politics of Local Foods.
• 2003: Pattiann Rogers, author of The Dream of the Marsh Wren.
• 2004: Franklin Burroughs
• 2005: William J. Cronon
• 2006: Mary Oliver, Poet
• 2007: Agnes Denes, Environmental Artist
• 2008: Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma
• 2009: Scott Momaday
• 2010: Sandra Steingraber, author of Living Downstream An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment
• 2011: Camille Dungy, poet, author
• 2012: Chris Jordan, photographer
• 2013:  Ruben Martinez, “Desert America: Politics and Contemplation on the Mythic American Landscape“
• 2014:  Mike Hulme, “Climate Change: What’s Virtue Got To Do With It?”
• 2015:  Jennifer Baichwal, film maker
• 2016:  Elizabeth Kolbert, author of “The Sixth Extinction”
• 2017:  James Workman, journalist, author, and essayist
• 2018:  Elizabeth Rush, educator and author
• 2019:  Ross Gay, educator and author
• 2021:  Winona LaDuke, rural development economist, activist, and author
• 2022:  Carolyn Finney, author of “Black Faces, White Spaces”
• 2023:  Nancy Campbell:  Poet, essayist, and book printer who has written extensively about the polar regions and ice