Free Tickets Available for Area High School Students to Attend UB Distinguished Speakers Series Lecture with J. Craig Venter

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo is offering students from Western New York high schools free tickets to attend the upcoming lecture by pioneering genomics researcher, J. Craig Venter, who will speak at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 27 in Alumni Arena on the UB North Campus as part of UB's 24th Annual Distinguished Speakers Series.

Up to 30 complimentary tickets per school are available for the lecture. Ticket requests will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.

Venter, a former UB and Roswell Park Cancer Institute scientist, is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his numerous invaluable contributions to genomic research. He is founder and president of the J. Craig Venter Institute, a not-for-profit, research and support organization dedicated to human, microbial, plant and environmental genomic research, the exploration of social and ethical issues in genomics, and alternative energy solutions through genomics.

While at Celera Genomics, which he founded, Venter sequenced the human genome using new tools and techniques he and his team developed. The successful completion of this research culminated with the February 2001 publication of the human genome in the journal, Science. Venter and his team at the Venter Institute continue to blaze new trails in genomics research and have published numerous important papers covering such areas as the first complete diploid human genome, environmental genomics, and synthetic genomics.

The availability of free tickets for the Venter lecture is made possible through the support of the many sponsors of the UB Distinguished Speakers Series. It continues a long-standing program of inviting high school students to select lectures to get them excited about science and involved with global issues. The program began in 2004 with a talk by Steven Squyres, a nationally regarded astronomer perhaps best known as the face of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission. Since then, free tickets have also been offered for science-oriented lectures by physicist and groundbreaking string theorist Brian Greene; former vice president Al Gore; television personality and scientist, Bill Nye; astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson; and, most recently, oceanographer Sylvia Earle. The free-ticket program has also provided access to see human rights activist and author Ishmael Beah; economist and "Freakonomics" author Steven Levitt; "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" author Khaled Hosseini; Los Angeles Times columnist and author of "The Soloist" Steve Lopez; and Greg Mortenson, co-author of the best-selling book, Three Cups of Tea.

Requests for tickets may be made by the principal or one faculty or staff member who will act as the sole liaison for the school, and who will distribute the students' tickets. Schools can visit http://www.specialevents.buffalo.edu for more information and to register for tickets.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.