Lectures at Bates this week shed light on three diverse, yet equally momentous, realms of contemporary concern.

Joseph T. Kelley, a marine geologist and sedimentologist who focuses on shoreline issues, gives a talk titled "The Destruction and Proposed Reconstruction of the Mississippi River Delta" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, in Room 204 of Carnegie Science Hall, 44 Campus Ave.

Lisette de Pillis, an expert in the use of mathematical models to solve difficult problems in diverse fields, offers two lectures that same day. A professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, she gives an informal talk titled "Cancer Growth and Treatment Modeling" at 4:30 p.m. At 8 p.m., she gives a lecture titled "How to Model Cancer Growth and New Treatment Strategies: A Perspective of Cooperation." The location for both is the Keck Classroom (Room G52), Pettengill Hall. A reception follows the evening talk.

The following day, Equatorial Guinean writer Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel gives a talk called "The Open Vein of Africa" at 4 p.m. in the Benjamin Mays Center. Ávila Laurel is one of the few writers in Equatorial Guinea who has resisted government pressure to be silent or leave the country.

All four events are open to the public at no cost. (Please click the links below for more information about each event.)