Census of Marine Life Researcher, Author to Speak at Birch Aquarium at Scripps

Date: Tuesday, Nov. 16
Time: 6:30-8 p.m.
Cost: $5
RSVP: 858-534-5771 or online here.

What lives in the ocean? Where? Will it be there in the future? Join Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, for a special Nov. 16 lecture that delves into the Census of Marine Life, a decade-long effort to catalog and estimate the total diversity of life in the vast global ocean.

Nancy Knowlton, a census scientific leader and Scripps adjunct professor, will discuss the ambitious initiative as well as her new book, Citizens of the Sea, written to celebrate the international project. A booksigning will follow her talk.

More than 6,000 potentially new species were discovered in the recently completed census, which involved the work of more than 2,700 scientists from 80 nations. Living creatures were found in all parts of the ocean, expanding the knowledge of habitats and ranges in which life is known to exist. Using genetic analysis, researchers also connected distinct species and painted a new picture of the genetic structure of marine diversity. Visit www.coml.org for more information.

Knowlton is the Sant Chair for Marine Science at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. She founded the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps Oceanography and has devoted her life to studying, celebrating and striving to protect the multitude of life forms that call the sea home.

Birch Aquarium at Scripps is located at 2300 Expedition Way in La Jolla.