"Our Great Lakes are under siege, with a new species arriving in the belly of a ship about every seven months. In the process, these destructive invaders are crippling our lakes, endangering our health, and burdening our economy," says Dennis Fijalkowski, executive director of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy.

In his presentation, Sharp will explore the disastrous effects invasive species have had on the Great Lakes, the potential for even worse problems in the future, and the very real opportunity that exists to solve the problem in the next year to year-and-a-half. He'll also discuss one of the biggest and controversial threats to Lake Michigan from the west - silver and bighead carp.

A native of Scotland, Sharp has been a reporter for 40 years beginning his career with the Buffalo Evening News. After stints with the Associated Press, the Detroit Free Press and the Miami Herald, he returned to the Free Press as the newspaper's outdoors writer.

Sharp has twice won the Ben East Prize for conservation journalism, and this year was honored with a first place award from the Associated Press Sports Editors association. He has hunted and fished around the world, produced several books on outdoors issues including Fishing Michigan, in which he describes the state's major game fish and where and how to catch them.

Sharp's presentation, which will include a question and answer session, afterward, is free and open to the public.

A special wine and cheese reception following Sharp's presentation will also be held in the Bengel Wildlife Center's Anderson Great Hall during which guests will have a chance to meet and talk with Sharp in more detail.

Tickets to the reception are $15 per person for the general public; MWC members may purchase tickets to the reception for only $10 each.

Seating is limited for both Sharp's presentation and the reception. Advance reservations for both are required and can be made by calling Beth Elliott at the MWC office -- (517) 641-7677 or by emailing wildlife@miwildlife.org.

The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy is a non-profit, charitable organization founded in 1982, to help people help wildlife through habitat restoration and educational programming. For more information or to support MWC programs, visit: www.miwildlife.org.