Westminster College begins the new academic year of weekly Faculty Forums Wednesday, Sept. 5, in 311 Patterson Hall at 11:30 a.m.

Dr. Clarence Harms, professor of biology at Westminster, will present "East Pacific Rainforest, People and Cultures," which will examine the present similarities and differences between a tropical rainforest and a temperate rainforest. The presentation will also cover the differences between two groups of Amerindians, Secoyas in Ecuador and Tlingit in Alaska.

Harms, a Fulbright Scholar, has been with Westminster since 1969. He earned his undergraduate degree from Tabor College, his master's from the University of Kansas, and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Faculty Forums, established in 1990, serve as a venue for the exchange of ideas and information among Westminster College faculty. Speakers present their research, teaching ideas, lectures, performances, special programs, and uses of technology to keep faculty informed about the work of colleagues from many disciplines.

For more information on this forum, contact Harms at (724) 946-7207 or e-mail harmsc@westminster.edu.