The Concert and Lecture Series at the University of Montevallo will present "Green Mountain Mardi Gras: Loss & Celebration Under a Changing Sky," featuring John Elder in LeBaron Recital Hall Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. 

Elder, professor emeritus at Middlebury College in Vermont, taught English, English and American literatures and environmental studies during his 37-year career. He helped establish the first environmental studies major in the nation, raising Middlebury to a liberal arts model in sustainability and environmental action. That program served as an example for UM's recently established environmental studies department.

Elder, who views himself as an activist, identifies with the environmental movement, which he describes as "this country's great contribution to world culture; that and jazz." He was part of the movement to conceptualize the field of study known as ecocriticism, which studies literature and the environment from interdisciplinary perspectives. He also has explored the fields of community-based education and service-learning. 

A prolific writer, Elder has authored books include Imagining the Earth: Poetry and the Vision of Nature, Reading the Mountains of Home, The Frog Run and Pilgrimage to Vallombrosa.