Jeremy Jackson Honored by Harvard Museum of Natural History

Jeremy Jackson, renowned marine ecologist with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, has been selected to receive the 11th annual Roger Tory Peterson Medal presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Jackson will deliver the Roger Tory Peterson Memorial Lecture on Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 3 p.m. in the Harvard University Science Center.

In his lecture, entitled "Brave New Ocean," Jackson will discuss the future of the world's oceans. Decades of over-fishing, habitat destruction and ocean warming have left our marine ecosystems and biodiversity in a state of crisis. But with successful management and conservation strategies, Jackson sees hope for renewing the health and sustainability of our oceans.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History inaugurated the Roger Tory Peterson Memorial Lecture in 1997 to keep alive the memory of the pioneering naturalist and author of the legendary Peterson Field Guide to Birds. The annual event celebrates and perpetuates Peterson's tireless efforts to conserve the planet's biological diversity. Past recipients of the medal have included E.O. Wilson, Jared M. Diamond, Paul R. Ehrlich, Bruce Babbitt, Richard Leakey, Peter Matthiessen, David Attenborough, Roger Bateman, David Suzuki and Jane Goodall.

Jackson is the William E. and Mary B. Ritter Professor at Scripps and director of Scripps' Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. He also holds a position as senior scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Jackson's current research includes the long-term ecological effects of overfishing on coastal ecosystems and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, which divided the Pacific and Atlantic oceans about three million years ago.

Jackson is co-founder of the Shifting Baselines Media Campaign, a public educational program bringing together ocean conservation scientists and organizations with filmmakers and producers in Hollywood. The campaign has developed unconventional outreach materials, such as public service announcements with famous actors and comic settings.

Jackson is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and five books. In 2007 he was selected as co-recipient of the International Award for Research in Ecology and Conservation Biology by the BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) Foundation in Madrid, Spain. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and received the Secretary's Gold Medal for Exceptional Service of the Smithsonian Institution in 1997. He has served on committees of the National Research Council, the Advisory Board of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and the Science Commission of the Smithsonian Institution.