In a talk titled "The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge" Shiva will speak about the international practice of granting patents for plants, seeds and other natural resources not previously considered property.

The program is sponsored by Berea College's SENS program, Office of Women's Studies and the President's Office.

Shiva is director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy in New Delhi, India, which she founded in 1982. An informal network of researchers working in support of people's environmental struggles, the Foundation has been especially involved in ethical and environmental impacts of genetic engineering and biodiversity. Other foundation programs are the International College for Sustainable Living, and Diverse Women for Diversity Prior to her work as an activist, Shiva, who holds a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Science, was one of India's leading physicists.

In 1993, Shiva won the Right Livleihood Award, also known as the "Alternative Nobel Peace Prize," an international award established in 1980 to honor and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the world's crucial problems.

She is associate editor of "The Ecologist" Magazine and the author of several books, including: "Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply;" "Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge;" "Ecofeminism," with Maria Mies; "The Violence of the Green Revolution: Third World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics," and "Monocultures of the Mind: Perspectives on Biodiversity and Biotechnology."