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If you like your weather forecast, thank . . . an oceanographer!

The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science’s 2019 Sea Secrets lecture series will feature five free talks by distinguished underwater explorers, researchers, administrators, and swashbucklers.
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Editor's Note: Due to the federal government shutdown, Craig McLean with the National Oceanic and Atmospherice Administration will be unable to attend the Jan. 15 Sea Secrets event. The Jan. 15 lecture will be presented by Ben Kirtman, professor of Atmospheric Sciences and director of the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Kirtman's talk is entitled: "Hurricanes, Floods and Fires, Oh My: Predicting Extreme Weather and Hazards from Days to Decades."

RSVP for the Kirtman lecture.

 

Craig McLeanCraig McLean, the acting chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who commanded NOAA research vessels on and under the sea for nearly a quarter century, will kick off the 2019 Sea Secrets lecture series on Tuesday, January 15, with a talk about why weather forecasts depend on ocean observations.

Designed for the non-scientific community, the free lectures presented by the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science will be held on five Tuesday evenings through April, when the series concludes with a talk by Rosenstiel School Dean Roni Avissar. Each lecture will take place at the Rosenstiel School auditorium on Virginia Key, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, and begin with a reception with each speaker at 6:30 p.m. and the program at 7 p.m.

McLean, who is responsible for a network of NOAA research laboratories and programs, including the Ocean Exploration program, which he founded, serves as the U.S. representative to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, a body of 149 nations leading the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. An attorney who has practiced marine resource law for NOAA, he is a national fellow of The Explorers Club and a 250th Anniversary Fellow of Rutgers University. And yes, his talk is titled “If You Like Your Weather Forecast, Thank . . . an Oceanographer!"

 


 

February 12: Ocean Renaissance

stoneIn the second lecture of the series, Greg Stone, an accomplished communicator of complex science who has been described as “the swashbuckling Indiana Jones of the sea,” will discuss his latest book, “Soul of the Sea in the Age of the Algorithm.”  

The chief ocean scientist for Deep Green Resources and president of Ocean Renaissance, Stone is also cofounder of the Ocean Health Index and specializes in sustainable fishing, aquaculture, climate adaptation, and seamount ecology. The author of four books, including a National Outdoor Book Award winner, he has appeared in documentaries for Discovery and National Geographic, and written hundreds of articles for such publications as Nature.

RSVP for the Stone lecture.

 


 

March 5: Saving the World One Robomussel at a Time: Ecological Forecasting in the Era of Rapid Climate Change

helmuthIn the third lecture of the series, Brian Helmuth, a veteran of several saturation missions in the Aquarius underwater habitat,will discuss how his research group at Northeastern University’s Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences and Iraqi scientists use ecological forecasting to address the impacts of global climate change on the people and ecosystems in the fragile region of the world known as the cradle of civilization.

In addition to their research, which focuses on the likely ecological impacts of climate change on coastal and coral reef ecosystems, Helmuth’s group also helps educators develop cutting-edge technologiesto facilitate science learning. A science advisor to the Fabien Cousteau Mission 31 project in 2014, he is a fellow of the Aldo Leopold Leadership program, which trains select scientists to interact with policy makers, journalists, and the public and, in 2011, was named a Google Science Communication Fellowin the area of climate change.

RSVP for the Helmuth lecture.

 


 
April 2: Big Science and Big Ideas

leinenA pioneering paleoceanographer, paleoclimatologist, and national science leader, Margaret Leinen, the director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and vice chancellor for marine science at the University of California at San Diego, will discuss how ocean observations lead to new ways of thinking about our planet during the fourth lecture. 

Leinen, a former president of the American Geophysical Union who helped develop new observation capabilities and research vessels that enabled long-term research in the deep ocean, will share her perspective on her groundbreaking research and broad administrative experience, which includes leading early deep-sea expeditions; discovering the dramatic effects hydrothermal vents have on the sea’s basic chemistry; and overseeing a study that shaped our understanding of how the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and transports it to deep waters and sediments on the ocean floor. 

RSVP for the Leinen lecture.

 



April 30: Challenges and Achievements in Hurricane Forecasting

avissarIn the final lecture of the series, Avisaar, an internationally recognized atmospheric scientist and award-winning hydro climatologist who was appointed dean of the Rosenstiel School in 2009, will discuss the cutting-edge research that has improved hurricane track and intensity forecasts and the challenges that still lie ahead.

Avissar, who pioneered the development and evaluation of various numerical and analytical models to study ocean-land-atmosphere interactions, also developed a unique environmental helicopter observational platform, which he pilots for scientific missions. He is a fellow of both the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society.

RSVP for the Avissar lecture. 

The Sea Secrets lecture series is made possible through the generosity of Bank of America.