Bill McKibben is the author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with his first book on climate change, "The End of Nature" in 1989. In 2007, he published "Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future," which critiques the growth economy and envisions a transition to more local-scale enterprise. In 2010, he published the provocative book "Eaarth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet," which argues we are living on "a new Eaarth," a dramatically different planet than we have known, now defined by reduced energy resources and increased climate disruption.

Time Magazine has called McKibben "the planet's best green journalist" and The Boston Globe said in 2010 that he was "probably the country's most important environmentalist."

McKibben, who lives in Vermont and is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Sponsored by the School of Journalism, it is free and open to the public. Seating is limited on a first-come/first-seated basis.

When: 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 4

Where: Belo Center for New Media Auditorium (BMC 2.106), 300 W. Dean Keeton St.

Contact: Robert Jensen, rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.