On Monday July 25, at 7 p.m., photographer and author John D. Chaney will present a free public talk titled, “40 Years from the Brink of Extinction: America’s Bald Eagle” in the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center, Shepherdstown.

American bald eagles and their fight for survival ignited passion in award-winning photographer John D. Chaney. He began documenting America’s national bird for future generations when he learned in college that the bald eagle might become extinct. A few years later the bald eagle was added to the Endangered Species list. His passion grew year after year as he captured more interesting photographs and finally witnessed first-hand the resurgence of our symbol of freedom. Chaney’s images in “40 Years from the Brink of Extinction” pay tribute to the eagles’ survival and the people who helped them. Chaney’s talk will include his photographs of the majestic eagles in their natural habitat, interspersed with interesting facts he learned on his journey.

Chaney has been an avid photographer for over 50 years, has won many international awards and has been in numerous publications. An award-wining image of an elephant mourning the death of her mate was displayed on the National Geographic home page and received over 2 million visitors with 16,000 posts which resulted in over twenty interviews and publications as far away as Poland, Brazil, Italy and New Zealand. At 25, he was the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of TeleCheck Services in Houston. For the next two decades John lead a team that built TeleCheck into a national, multi-hundred million dollar company. In 20110 Chaney retired from traditional business to focus on his passion of photography.

The presentation is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required. It is part of The Conservation Lecture Series held at the National Conservation Training Center. For more information please contact Mark Madison at (304) 876-7276 or mark_madison@fws.gov or visit nctc.fws.gov/ history/publiclectures.html.

The Conservation Lecture Series is co-sponsored by The Friends of the National Conservation Training Center.