Cycles of the Oceans: What Lies Beneath the Surface (Virtual)

When

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

7pm Where

Zoom

Who

Adults, Teens

Admission Registration required

Artist Federico Uribe, Dr. Rowan H. McLachlan, a coral expert at Oregon State University, and Laurel Zaima, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory environmental educator, will discuss the life cycles of oceans, their life-giving properties, how they are being transformed by pollution and climate change, and what we can do to protect them. This program is inspired by Federico Uribe: Plastic Reef and Cycles of Nature.

Federico Uribe’s artwork reproduces marine ecosystems with used plastic tools, items that are readily found floating in the oceans and polluting our waters. Daily plastic objects, including bottles, bottle caps, plastic cutlery, flip flops, among other items, are woven in curious and unpredictable, repetitive, and almost compulsive ways. The artwork invites the viewer to reflect on the indiscriminate use of plastic and the disastrous impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems worldwide.

Scientist Dr. Rowan H. McLachlan investigates the impact of global and local stressors such as ocean warming, ocean acidification, nutrient pollution, and overfishing on coral physiology, morphology, and recently, the microbiome. Through her academic journey, she has studied corals on the Great Barrier Reef, in Hawaii, and in French Polynesia. She is the lead author of a study featured in National Geographic,”Climate-Resilient Coral Species Offer Hope for the World’s Reefs.”

Scientist Laurel Noelani-Reiko Zaima is the Education and Outreach Coordinator, Marine Geology and Geophysics at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, where she works on education initiatives about the natural environment that communicate science research, through hands-on experiences and a place-based instructional approach, for the general public, school groups, and teachers.

 

Support provided by Art Bridges.