The University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science invites the South Florida community to join distinguished scientists and explorers at the edge of discovery for the 2024 Sea Secrets lecture series. The series will present speakers and topics relevant to today’s global challenges, from climate change to mapping the ocean floor, to understanding how marine protected areas can impact conservation efforts. The lectures are all in a format designed for the non-scientific community.
“Now in our 28th year of hosting Sea Secrets, the Rosenstiel School has been bringing distinguished speakers from around the world to provide our community with cutting-edge marine and atmospheric science and exploration,” said Roni Avissar, Dean of the Rosenstiel School. “We are pleased to present another great line-up this year.”
Sea Secrets will kick off on Tuesday, January 23, 2024 with a lecture by Kurt Shickman, the founder of KS Advisory, a consulting practice that provides insights to cities, companies, and civil society organizations to address the challenge of extreme heat and climate resilience.
The five lectures, which run through April 9, 2024 are free and open to the public and designed to provide insight and information about our planet. Seating is limited for in-person attendance and RSVP is requested. The series also will be streamed through the Zoom platform. Links to Eventbrite for either in person or virtual are provided for each lecture below and in the schedule link below.
The 2024 Sea Secrets lecture series is presented by Bank of America and sponsored by The Shepard Broad Foundation, William J. Gallwey III, Esquire, Sheryl Gold, KB Life Enhancement Fund, Key Biscayne Community Foundation, Joan McCaughan Family Foundation, Nicole and Myron Wang, Sain-Orr, DeForest, Steadman Foundation, and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.
All lectures take place at the Rosenstiel School auditorium, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway. A light reception starts at 6:30p.m., and the program begins at 7:00p.m.
For complete details on each speaker’s presentations and bios, please visit: 2024 Sea Secrets Lecture Series schedule
Tuesday, January 23, 2024:
Thriving in a Rapidly Warming World: How We Create a Just and Prosperous Future by Building Resilience to Heat.
Kurt Shickman, Founder KS Advisory
We are increasingly aware of the threat that extreme heat presents to our lives, our communities, our society, and all the systems we rely on to survive and thrive. On the other side of that coin, strategies and technologies that build resilience to heat significantly contribute to progress across a broad range of important issues that we face today. This discussion will highlight what communities, cities, and countries are already doing to deal with the heat and what we can do to spur action on a global scale.
RSVP in person:
Virtual: https://miami.zoom.us/j/96724597890#success
Tuesday, February 6, 2024:
Inside the Race to Map and Mine the Deep Sea.
Laura Trethewey, Environmental and ocean journalist and author
Five oceans—the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian, the Arctic, and the Southern—cover approximately 70 percent of the Earth. Yet we know little about what lies beneath them. Approximately 25 percent of the ocean’s floor has been charted, most close to shorelines, and over three quarters of the ocean lies in what is called the Deep Sea. Now, the race is on to completely map the ocean’s floor by 2030—an epic project involving scientists, investors, militaries, and private explorers who are cooperating and competing to get an accurate reading of this vast terrain and understand its contours and environment. In her new book The Deepest Map, Laura Trethewey chronicles global mapping efforts around the world and the increasingly fraught question of whether and how to mine the Deep Sea. In this talk, Trethewey covers the history and future of deep-sea mining, as well as the science, industry, and political developments taking place today.
RSVP in person: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sea-secrets-lecture-series-2024-with-laura-trethewey-tickets-755777770657?aff=oddtdtcreator
Virtual: https://miami.zoom.us/j/94178646620#success
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
The Wavemaker: A Quest to Save the Ocean, One Story at a Time.
Andy Mann, Photographer and Co-Founder of SeaLegacy
Andy Mann’s voyage from rock climber to marine photographer and filmmaker is an unlikely story over flowing with adventure. His work has brought him face-to-face with crocodiles, sharks, and icebergs —all on his quest to protect and share the fragile, fascinating, and fierce stories of our ocean. A dedicated conservationist, Andy uses his compelling imagery to raise awareness about our seas and has helped create marine protected areas around the world. Andy’s stunning visuals have captured groundbreaking marine science and the awe of wild places. His work inspires change and brings us to places we have never seen before.
RSVP in person: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sea-secrets-lecture-series-2024-with-andy-mann-tickets-755779616177?aff=oddtdtcreator
Virtual: https://miami.zoom.us/j/95801231224#success
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The Global Experiment with Massive Marine Protected Areas.
Rebecca Gruby, Ph.D., Robert K. Johnson Professor of Marine Conservation and Director, Johnson Center for Marine Conservation, Rosenstiel School.
We have entered a new era of marine conservation. In 2005, less than 2% of the world’s oceans were conserved in marine protected areas. Today, 8.17% of the world’s oceans are formally protected, with 44 large-scale marine protected areas accounting for a majority of this increase. Large-scale marine protected areas can provide unique conservation benefits by encompassing biologically connected ecosystems and habitats not often included in smaller, coastal marine protected areas. Yet, they pose significant implementation challenges, ranging from surveillance and enforcement to budget and capacity shortfalls and shifting political climates. This presentation will draw from a decade of social science research to explore the unprecedented promise and challenges of the global experiment with
massive marine protected areas. It will conclude with a forward-looking discussion of how the newly established Johnson Center for Marine Conservation will advance policy-relevant research on large-scale marine protected areas and other critical marine conservation issues in our region and around the world.
RSVP in person: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sea-secrets-lecture-series-2024-with-rebecca-gruby-phd-tickets-755781210947?aff=oddtdtcreator
Virtual: https://miami.zoom.us/j/94305919233#success
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Climate Engineering.
Brian Soden, Ph.D., Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School.
Within the next five years, global temperatures are likely to exceed the 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degree Fahrenheit) warming threshold established in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Despite international pledges to cut climate-warming emissions and move to cleaner sources of energy, the global emissions of greenhouse gasses continue to rise. Sometimes referred to as “a bad idea
whose time has come,” climate engineering is the intentional modification of Earth’s climate in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming. Scientists have proposed a number of approaches that could modify the flow of energy into and out of the Earth’s atmosphere and potentially offset some of the climatic impacts of increasing greenhouse gases. Dr. Brian Soden will present an overview of various approaches to climate engineering, including work being done at the Rosenstiel School. His lecture will discuss the pros and cons of each, and touch on the potential ethical considerations that climate engineering presents.
RSVP in person: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sea-secrets-lecture-series-2024-with-brian-soden-phd-tickets-755783016347?aff=oddtdtcreator
Virtual: https://miami.zoom.us/j/91203137137#success
