WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER TO LEAD WORKSHOP, PRESENTATION MARCH 10

HATTIESBURG - Two dance faculty members, three dance majors and a visiting dance artist have contributed their original choreography and artistry to three evenings of the Studio 115 Dance Concert April 24-26 at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Dance faculty member Stacy Reischman has created the duet "Linear Dependence," in which the dancers almost never touch the ground. Using climbing gear, the dancers move up and down ropes in ways both angelic and athletic.

Faculty member Janet Prieur's new solo dance was inspired by and created for graduating senior Meredith Robertson. Performed to the music of Offenbach, Prieur created the work not only to showcase Robertson's dance ability and beauty, but also to share the choreographer's love of music and the experience of what it's like to be a dancer.

A quartet, "Crayons and Cartoons," has been choreographed by junior dance major Jessica Burgos to imitate the dynamics within a family. Burgos started her work by exploring gestures and since then has built a dance that is sometimes humorous, and other times musical. Juniors Nichol Hillman and Melissa Banks and guest artist Ray Schwartz of North Carolina also contribute works to the concert.

The performances begin each evening at 7:30 in Studio 115 at the Southern Miss Theatre and Dance Building. Tickets are $5 and are available at the door only. Saturday's performance is "pay-what-you-can." For information, call the dance office at (601) 266-4161.

OCEAN SPRINGS -- Award-winning wildlife photographer Tom Ulrich will lead two photographic events at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory on Wednesday, March 10.

He will present a nature photography workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and then a talk and slide show called "Wildlife Images 2003" at 7 p.m., both at The University of Southern Mississippi GCRL.

Admission to the evening event is free and will be held in the Caylor Auditorium at GCRL. The veteran photographer will feature photos from his 2003 photographic safaris abroad and in North America. He will answer questions and sign his books during the reception following his slide show.

The registration fee for the all-day workshop is $50 per person, payable to GCRL. Registration includes a continental breakfast, light lunch and snacks. Participation is limited to 20. Though the workshop is geared toward beginners, Ulrich tailors the experience to meet needs for all degrees of skill.

"The beginners will definitely benefit from the workshop, but I always help the more advanced get something out of it also," Ulrich said. "I lead many photo trips and always find a wide range of levels."

Ulrich said participants do not need to bring their photographic equipment unless they need an explanation about some aspect of their equipment.

Topics include a brief review of the principles of photography, relationships between shutter and aperture settings, fundamental elements of composition, use and timing of fill-in flash, digital versus film photography, techniques of close-up photography, and a brief discussion of slide etiquette, the photography business and marketing.

Ulrich grew up in South Chicago, graduated with a degree in biology from Southern Illinois University and taught for four years before launching his career as a freelance photographer. He has supported himself with nature photography for the past 29 years.

His library of more than 300,000 transparencies includes birds and mammals from all over the world. His photographs have been featured in publications such as National Wildlife, Audubon, National Geographic, Montana Outdoors and Life.

He has published six nature books, including Mammals of the Rockies, Birds of the Northern Rockies, Once Upon a Frame and his 2002 release, Photo Pantanal. Dr. William E. Hawkins, GCRL executive director, said Ulrich brings the scientific and artistic worlds together.

"Tom earns his living photographing wildlife all over the world," Hawkins sad. "He is an outstanding observer and a biologist. His approach to photography is to capture his subjects exhibiting their natural behavior."

The GCRL is home to the university's Department of Coastal Sciences, the Center for Fisheries Research and Development, and the Gulf Coast Geospatial Center. The J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium is also a unit of the laboratory. The GCRL is part of the Southern Miss College of Science and Technology. For more information, call the laboratory at (228) 872-4200.

-30-