Lunch and Learn Lecture with William Ahlborn

Publish Date: Oct. 26, 2022

William (Bill) Ahlborn is an alumnus and retired adjunct faculty member from Crafton Hill College. He is a veteran and purple heart recipient from the battle of the bulge in WWII, and a dedicated donor and friend to the College.

Ahlborn has conducted desert field trips for three universities and multi-day desert explorations for 17 years. He has traveled to 150 countries, all 50 states, all seven continents, and around 400 national park units. Bill has a love for geography and earth science and continues to travel the world even into his late 90’s.

Ahlborn reached out to the College and asked to lead a lecture titled “What is a Desert?”. Students, employees, and community members were invited to bring their lunch and learn during the one-hour event at noon on September 7, 2022.

Integrating humor into his teaching, Ahlborn began speaking to the audience of over 5 attendees stating, “One way or another let’s find out, what is a desert. If you already know the answer, don’t blurt it out because then I’ll have to fill in the rest of the time with 97-year-old year old humor and you would not want to go through that.”

Ahlborn provided an interactive opportunity for audience members to react to questions about things people typically associate with deserts including cactus, palm trees, snakes, heat, and rainfall. Ahlborn spent time discussing facts about the four major Deserts in North America and many he’s visited around the world. At the end of the lecture, one audience member guessed correctly that the largest desert on Earth is Antarctica. Ahlborn eliminated some of the myths surrounding deserts and that the one thing all deserts have in common is that they receive no more than 10 inches of precipitation per year.

Audience members surrounded Ahlborn following the lecture to thank him for the information, ask follow up questions, and pose for a few photos.