SF BAY ACS 2016 Symposium: “Our Changing Oceans”

“Our Changing Oceans”

Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

SFSU Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies

Romberg Bay Conference Center

3150 Paradise Drive, Tiburon, CA

Early Bird Ticket Pricing (12/26/15-2/29/16): $35.00
Standard Ticket Pricing(3/1/16-5/14/16): $50.00
Every Ticket Includes Lunch & Admission to Reception

Climate change is a global issue affecting our oceans. The effects of global warming on marine mammals and other species are of growing concern. Discussing the effects of climate change on the world’s oceans is critical to understanding what is changing, how is it changing, and how these changes will influence their inhabitants.

This symposium will address how climate change impacts marine environments and ecosystems including temperature, ocean acidification, ocean productivity, and calcification.

The symposium seeks to improve the understanding of climate change impacts on marine mammals and other species, the vulnerability and adaptability of marine ecosystems to climate change, and their resiliency. We will also discuss future conservation and adaptive management regimes.

Confirmed Speakers:

Dr. Brandon Southall: President and Senior Scientist for Southall Environmental Associates, Inc. based in Santa Cruz, CA and a research associate with the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is currently involved in research to measure behavioral responses of marine mammals to various human sounds, primarily military sonar signals, the effects of impulsive noise on hearing in seals and sea lions in laboratory settings, efforts to implement quieting technologies on the largest commercial ships in the oceans, and developing environmentally-responsible ways of capturing offshore energy.
Jeremy Goldbogen Ph.D.: Principal Investigator for Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station and Assistant Professor of Biology: Comparative biomechanics, foraging energetics, functional anatomy and bio-logging technology.
Kate Stafford, Ph.D.: Principal Oceanographer of the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory. Her research focuses on the use of passive acoustic monitoring to study large whale species primarily based in polar regions, with a particular focus on the Arctic. Much of her research looks at the geographic and seasonal occurrence of large whales based on sound production and the integration of acoustic data with environmental variables to develop predictive models of the occurrence of whales based on their environment.
Dan Costa, Ph.D.: Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California, Santa Cruz. Postdoctoral work at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He focuses on adaptations of marine mammals and seabirds to life in the marine environment, especially the movements, foraging ecology, and energetics of pinnipeds and seabirds.
Guy Oliver, Ph.D.: Research Associate at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who investigates the behavior, ecology and physiology of Northern elephant seals, California sea lions, Steller sea lions and harbor seals at Año Nuevo and throughout their ranges.
Jaime Jahncke, Ph.D.: Director of the California Current Group which works to advance marine conservation and management in the California Current by conducting research and developing tools to inform climate adaptation, marine spatial planning and ecosystem based management approaches. Their goal is to conserve the integrity of the marine ecosystem to help ensure healthy populations of marine top predators and sustainable uses for humans.
Sarah G. Allen, Ph.D.: National Park Service Pacific West Region’s Ocean and Coastal Resources Program Lead at the Point Reyes National Seashore Point Reyes Station with expertise in marine ecology, marine birds and mammals.
Dr. Lance Morgan, Ph.D.: President Marine Conservation Institute and a marine biologist .Lance has worked on protecting the ocean for nearly 2 decades. He is the past Chairman of the Cordell Bank Sanctuary Advisory Council and participated in California’s effort to design the first and only statewide system of marine protected areas. He led efforts to identify Marine Priority Conservation Areas from Baja California to the Bering Sea for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. He currently is Chairman of the Board for the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and holds a research faculty appointment at Bodega Marine Laboratory.
Karina J. Nielsen, Ph.D.: Director & Professor of Biology, Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, SFSU. Her research focuses on how oceanographic, climatic and anthropogenic factors influence the functioning of coastal ecosystems, spanning the boundaries of disciplines and ecosystems. She also works at the boundary between science and policy as a member, and co-chair of the California Ocean Protection Council’s Science Advisory Team (OPC-SAT) and serves on the Governing Council for the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS)
Ellen M. Hines, Ph.D.: Professor SFSU of Geography & Environment and Associate Director of Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, SFSU. Her research addresses population and community ecology of threatened and endangered marine mammals and seabirds as related to local conservation efforts and regional scale coastal and marine management science. The emphasis is on the evolution of consistent standards of field methodology and monitoring techniques, spatially explicit habitat and distribution modeling and on the creation of educational materials that can be applied to community-based conservation planning.