TAHOE/TRUCKEE, Calif. andamp;#8212; Through thought provoking images, well-told stories and excerpts from John Muirandamp;#8217;s journals, Foothill College English professor Scott Lankford will trace Muirandamp;#8217;s high-stakes alliances with timber barons, railroad moguls and tourism titans at Sierra College, 11001 College Trail (across from Savemart), Truckee, Friday, Nov. 18. As part of the Dean Lecture Series, Experts andamp; Insights, Lankford will present Muirandamp;#8217;s forgotten battle to create Lake Tahoe National Park.Discover insights about Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club and delve into how the struggle to save Lake Tahoe changed thoughts on conservation and development throughout the U.S.Muir, a Scottish-born writer and author, spent a significant amount of time in the Sierra Nevada. He is referred to as the andamp;#8220;Father of the National Parksandamp;#8221; for his dedication to preserving forests and petitioning Congress for the National Park bill that was passed in 1899.Lankford is well known for his book andamp;#8220;Tahoe Beneath the Surface.andamp;#8221; After joining the 1985 American Everest West Ridge Expedition, Scott Lankford spent a decade in the Lake Tahoe region where he was a musician, maintenance man and mountaineering guide before completing a Ph.D. in modern thought and literature with a focus on John Muir at Stanford University.Lankford has served as dean of language arts as well as co-director of the Foothill College Cultural Diversity Center. His active research interests include western American environmental history, the history of mountaineering, southeastern Asian history, gay and lesbian literature and Americans in Paris. He holds a bachelorandamp;#8217;s in philosophy from Williams College.andamp;#8220;Our region hosts a wealth of active and retired professors who are incredibly knowledgeable and excel in communicating their passion for study and discovery. What better way to engage the community than to share the excitement of learning something new through our Experts andamp; Insights lecture series?andamp;#8221; asks Kim Bateman, dean of Sierra Collegeandamp;#8217;s Tahoe-Truckee campus. andamp;#8220;Scott will provide a riveting presentation that awakens our sense of wonder and explores the dynamics of relationships and politics in the conservation movement.andamp;#8221;Lankfordandamp;#8217;s presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. and will conclude by 8:50 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18. The lobby opens at 7 p.m. for complimentary coffee, tea, cookies and socializing. Experts andamp; Insights is open to the public at no cost. Experts andamp; Insights offers academic enrichment and intellectual exchange across a range of scholarly subjects. Open to current students and community members the lecture series offers an opportunity to interact with different professors who present their research-based passions using a variety of teaching methods. Visit http://www.sierracollege.edu or call 530-550-2225 or send an e-mail with andamp;#8220;Experts and Insightsandamp;#8221; in the subject line to kbateman@sierracollege.edu.andamp;#8212; Nicole Cheslock, NC Communications, Outreach + Writing + Media Relations, 530-548-5010, http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolecheslock, twitter.com/NicoleCheslock

Sierra College offers career and technical education programs and core academics. Students earn certificates, associate degrees and transfer to four-year colleges and universities. Tuition is $36 per unit and discounted to just one dollar a unit for current Tahoe Truckee Unified School District high school students. Spring semester begins Jan. 23, 2012. New students may begin registering for classes on Nov. 29.