The first United States Ambassador to the unified Kingdom of Italy, George Perkins Marsh (1801, Woodstock, Vermont–1882, Vallombrosa, Tuscany) is also considered by many to be America’s first environmentalist and among the early pioneers of the concept of sustainability. He is also championed the conservation of wilderness areas as national parks. Capping off an extraordinary diplomatic career, he was the longest-serving chief of mission in United States history, serving as envoy to Italy for twenty-one years until his death. He is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.å

In 1864, Marsh published Man and Nature; or Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action. Marking the 150th anniversary of Marsh’s reflections on ecology, including prescient predictions about the results of deforestation, this conference organized by the American Academy in Rome and the Centro per un Futuro Sostenibile (chaired by Francesco Rutelli) explores various aspects of his international career and his contributions to culture, politics and science. Underlining Marsh’s prophetic intuitions about land stewardship, speakers will focus, in particular, on innovative responses to the potentially devastating effects of contemporary climate charge in Italy and beyond.

Speakers include Francesco Rutelli, Nicholas de Monchaux, Aldo Ravazzi Douvan, Alessandro Farruggia, Daniele Fiorentino, Elizabeth Kolbert, Enrico Rossi, and two current Rome Prize Fellows in landscape architecture at the American Academy in Rome, Kim Karlsrud and Daniel Phillips.

Talks will be given in Italian and in English, with simultaneous translation available. The event is sponsored by the American Academy in Rome and the Centro per un Futuro Sostenibile