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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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New England Aquarium

Opened on the Boston Waterfront in 1969, the New England Aquarium is one of the world’s first modern aquariums. Visitors can explore the ocean and visit thousands of marine animals in three levels of world-class exhibits. Combining education, entertainment and action to address the most challenging problems facing the ocean, the New England Aquarium aims to create a new generation of ocean stewards. Since 1972, the Aquarium has been providing free lectures and films by scientists, environmental writers, photographers and many more. Through the generosity of the Lowell Institute, the Aquarium Lecture Series is free and open to the public. Registration is requested and all programs start at 7 p.m. in the Aquarium's Simons IMAX Theatre, unless otherwise noted. Programs last approximately one hour. For more information or to join our mailing list, visit: www.neaq.org/aquariumlectures

http://www.neaq.org/

  • William Sargent, environmental author and *NOVA* consultant, reveals intense debates currently surrounding horseshoe crabs. Surviving almost unmolested for 300 million years, the horseshoe crab is now the object of an intense legal and ethical struggle involving marine biologists, environmentalists, US government officials, biotechnologists, and international corporations. William Sargent is a consultant to the *NOVA* Science Series and former director of the Baltimore Aquarium. He presently teaches at The Briarwood Center for Marine Biology and at Harvard University.
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • Amanda Vincent, director of Project Seahorse, explains how overly large trades in seahorses are depleting wild populations. The good news, however, is that poor fishing villages in the Philippines, traditional medicine traders in Hong Kong, and 167 governments around the world are all taking action to make trade more sustainable. Seahorses, among the most charismatic of fishes, are helping establish common ground between conservation and traditional medicine.
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • Kim Todd investigates the stories of 16 exotic species, from those brought by the first European colonists to species still being imported today, as described in her book, *Tinkering with Eden*, winner of the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. Starlings. Honeybees. Pigeons. Brown trout. All these non-native species are well established parts of the American landscape, but how did they get here? What impact do they have? Who wanted them here and why?
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • Greg Skomal discusses the sharks that are present in New England waters in the summer. As the ocean waters of New England warm in May and June, many species of fish migrate north. Among them are more than a dozen shark species. Whether they are oceanic sharks such as the blue, mako or basking sharks; coastal species such as sandbar sharks, spiny and smooth dogfish; or tropical species such as tiger and hammerhead sharks, they all can be found in New England trying to capitalize on the productive northeast waters that are rich in food and reproductive opportunities. The porbeagle shark is the only species found year-round in Massachusetts waters because of its preference for colder waters. Massachusetts represents the northernmost range for several shark species. It is an important area for monitoring the health and distribution of shark populations.
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • Dr. Madin describes his career searching the ocean for these translucent animals made of 95 percent water. He has found them in every part of the ocean, from the surface to the deepest depths and feels that these varied, adaptable, simple, spineless creatures may have a lot to teach those of us with backbones and complex brains. Dr. Madin uses many of his breathtaking photographs to illustrate the lessons he is learning from sea jellies.
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • Mason Weinrich, chief scientist at the Whale Center of New England, shares extensive findings on reproduction, social organization, ecology and behavior that have resulted from his work. Humpback whales that feed in New England's waters have been studied extensively since the late 1970s. Many individual whales return to the area each year. This, combined with the unprecedented access to the population granted by whale watch boats, has led to unusually detailed knowledge of baleen whale population biology.
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • Sean Sheehan and Sheila Globus describe their project called Turn the Tide. Take nine simple actions and join more than 12,000 participants nationwide in helping the environment, and in seeing the results of combined action. Leo Kenney and a group of high school students inspire people to certify and protect vernal pools in their neighborhoods. And Time's "Ocean Hero", Niaz Dorry speaks about her own efforts to conserve aquatic life.
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • The Southern Ocean, the body of water surrounding Antarctica, is a key region in determining global climate. Recent studies show that the Southern Ocean is undergoing an alarming warming trend that may affect climates in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. What is the Antarctic telling us about our future? In the north, the Arctic also is changing in dramatic and disturbing ways with giant lakes replacing what used to be ice fields. Are the polar areas of our earth especially sensitive? If so, do they now serve as an early warning system for catastrophic change? There is a long-standing and pervasive myth that human input is local not global. Perhaps damage to the earth's polar areas is finally proving just how wrong this type of thinking is.
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • The Southern Ocean, the body of water surrounding Antarctica, is a key region in determining global climate. Recent studies show that the Southern Ocean is undergoing an alarming warming trend that may affect climates in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. What is the Antarctic telling us abut our future? In the north, the Arctic also is changing in dramatic and disturbing ways with giant lakes replacing what used to be ice fields. Are the polar areas of our earth especially sensitive? If so, do they now serve as an early warning system for catastrophic change? There is a long-standing and pervasive myth that human input is local not global. Perhaps damage to the earth's polar areas is finally proving just how wrong this type of thinking is.
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium
  • Greg Stone, vice president of Global Marine Programs at New England Aquarium, discusses Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf, and addresses the long-standing and pervasive myth that human input is local not global. The Southern Ocean, the body of water surrounding Antarctica, is a key region in determining global climate. Recent studies show that the Southern Ocean is undergoing an alarming warming trend that may affect climates in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. What is the Antarctic telling us abut our future? In the north, the Arctic also is changing in dramatic and disturbing ways with giant lakes replacing what used to be ice fields. Are the polar areas of our earth especially sensitive? If so, do they now serve as an early warning system for catastrophic change?
    Partner:
    New England Aquarium