The department sponsors a major lecture each year in conjunction with the Presidential Lecture series. The Brennan Guth Lecture is in memory of a former philosophy major, environmentalist, and world-class kayaker who died tragically in an accident on a river in Chile in 2001. Brennan´s love of philosophy and of environmental issues inspired many in Missoula to continue his legacy in numerous ways. In addition to the annual Brennan Guth lecture, a broad citizen effort in Brennan´s memory led to the construction of Brennan´s Wave on the Clark Fork River. An old irrigation diversion was converted into a standing wave for recreational kayaking where the river flows through downtown Missoula.

The lecture brings nationally and internationally known figures to campus to talk about important contemporary issues in environmental science, literature, governance, and politics.

Past Lecturers

• Robin Kimmerer (2023)
• Jay Famiglietti (2023)
• Naomi Oreskes (2022)
• David Abram (2020)
• Winona LaDuke (2019)
• Andrea Wulf (2018)
• Jedediah Purdy (2017)
• Vandana Shiva (2016)
• William Cronon (2014)

• Rafe Sagarin (2013)
• Anna Lappé (2012)
• Kathleen Dean Moore (2010)
• David Orr (2009)
• Terry Tempest Williams (2008)
• James Hansen (2007)
• Robert Bullard (2006)
• Larry Rasmussen (2005)
• Wendell Berry (2004)