Ocean Acidification in the Salish Sea and Beyond
WHEN
Thursday, October 7, 2021
4:30-5:30 p.m. PT
LOCATION
Online
Zoom
PRICE
Free
Check out this video to watch the Ocean Acidification in the Salish Sea and Beyond.
Huxley Speaker Series
Brought to you by Huxley College of the Environment in partnership with the WWU Alumni Association
Sometimes called the evil twin of climate change, ocean acidification, driven by carbon dioxide being added to the atmosphere, is changing the chemistry of the oceans. These changes can influence how hard it is to make a shell, or how easy it is for plants and algae to grow. Ocean acidification can affect anything from the survival of tiny oysters to the sense of smell in fish.
We will start with some basics about how the ocean waters are changing. Then we will look at some of the more common responses among different kinds of organisms, including some that are common in the Salish Sea. We will explore what we do and don’t know about what happens when things get complicated, like when temperature and carbon dioxide are changing at the same time, or in coastal waters that have many other influences. Finally, we will take a look at what we know about what the future holds and how people and policy makers are addressing the coming changes.
More information about the speaker series is available here.
We are excited that we will be live-streaming from a WWU classroom for the webinar for our off-campus audience. Due to the pandemic, only WWU students will be in-person for the presentation but we look forward to welcoming you all to class virtually.
Brooke Love
Speaker
Brooke Love is an oceanographer who is interested in how ocean acidification is unfolding in our local Washington waters. She is a chemical oceanographer by training, starting at the University of Washington building instruments to measure carbon dioxide in high temperature black smokers on the sea floor. Now at Western Washington University as an Associate Professor, she studies how ocean acidification affects organisms ranging from plankton, to eelgrass to herring. This involves a lot of plumbing, and she is always happy with a box of fittings and some tubing. She’s also dedicated to ocean education, in the classroom, in public talks, and currently as the academic director of the new program in Marine and Coastal Science at WWU.
Questions and Accommodations
Stefan Freelan is the coordinator of the Huxley Speaker Series. Send email to stefan@wwu.edu or call (360) 650-2949 if you have any questions or comments.
There will be auto-captions available for this event. To request closed captions, please mark the request on the registration form. Advance notice of three days to one week is appreciated.