Mark your calendars for the most exciting evening September 15th at the New England Aquarium. Cocktails around the Great Ocean Tank, dinner with food by renown chef Ming Tsai and dancing at the most beautiful of Boston’s water front venues, the Harbor View Terrace Pavilion. Be part of the celebration as the New England Aquarium begins its transformation of the Great Ocean Tank.
The New England Aquarium and other “informal science venues” such as zoos and other aquariums will be ready to educate visitors about the very complex topic of climate change thanks, in part, to a grant of 5.5 million dollars from the National Science Foundation. The grant will help The New England Aquarium, a leader in climate change research, communicate the science of climate change and its impact on marine ecosystems. http://news.neaq.org/2012/08/55-million-grant-for-climate-change.html
Heather Tausig, Associate Vice President of Conservation at the New England Aquarium, shared this special announcement with W2O and we are happy to pass it on to you!
The New England Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Action Fund will be hosting a special guest speaker at the Aquarium on August 21st. Mr. Didiher Chacon Chaverri, Director of the Latin American Programs for the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST), will discuss the sea turtle protection programs WIDECAST has spearheaded on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Costa Rica, efforts that were supported by MCAF grants in 2011 and 2012. Mr. Chaverri will speak about the diverse methods WIDECAST uses to improve the plight of sea turtles, including, nightly patrols to protect sea turtle nests from poachers, rescue and rehabilitation of injured turtles, and outreach and education programs for local communities. He will also speak about volunteer opportunities available through WIDECAST to do hands-on sea turtle conservation work in Costa Rica.
The New England Aquarium is honored to host Mr. Chaverri and to share an inspiring example of the important conservation impact being made by MCAF grantees all over the world. We hope you will be able to join us for his talk at 7pm on August 21st at the Aquarium’s Harborside Learning Lab. The web-link to RSVP for this event can be found on the Aquarium’s “Lecture Series” page: http://www.neaq.org/education_and_activities/programs_and_classes/aquarium_lecture_series/index.php.
Sylvia Earle with J. Woody Hastings at Living Lights
On July 31st, W2O co sponsored an event at Harvard called Living Light that featured Sylvia Earle, Explorer in Residence at National Geographic, along with Professor of Natural Science and bioluminescence expert, J. Woody Hastings and featuring a dance performance by Kirstin McArdle Dance company.
Ms. Earle spoke eloquently about her mission to increase awareness about the plight of our ocean and told a wonderful story about reminding the folks at Google Earth to include the Oceans in their website. She described committing the faux pas of calling the site “Google Dirt” http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090202-google-oceans-missions.html and as a result of her comments, she was enlisted to help with the creation of Google Ocean. Knowledge and passion speaks volumes when recruiting ocean stewards. Her passion and wisdom inspires us to continue to fight for healthy oceans.
