Birch Aquarium Winter Evening Lecture Series

The Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series features engaging presentations on research conducted worldwide by scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Scripps scientists are exploring Earth's mysteries through hundreds of research projects under way on every continent and in every ocean. Learn about science at Scripps and join researchers on their paths to discovery.

• Monday, Dec. 10 - Exploring Beyond the Abyss: The Deepsea Challenge Expedition: Doug Bartlett, marine microbiologist.    In spring 2012, the Deepsea Challenge Expedition with film director and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron conducted submersible operations in the deepest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench. Join Scripps scientist Doug Bartlett, a leading expert in microbial life in the planet's most remote and extreme places, as he describes what it was like to serve as chief scientist on this headlining expedition. Find out how Bartlett's research is providing greater insight into how organisms thrive in such extreme depths of the ocean.

• Monday, Jan. 14 - New Insights Into the Early History of Earth and Moon: James Day, geochemist.       Fresh examinations of lunar rocks gathered by Apollo mission astronauts have yielded new insights into the moon's chemical makeup, as well as clues about how giant impacts may have shaped the early Earth and moon. Join Scripps geochemist James Dayto learn how advances in technology are allowing researchers to probe chemical signatures in moon rocks more thoroughly, offering exciting new information about how planets may have formed and evolved.

• Monday, Feb. 11 - Genetics and Gray Whale Behavior: Aimee Lang, Southwest Fisheries Science Center marine biologist.    Understanding whale behavior in the wild is challenging, particularly because these animals spend so much of their time underwater. Join Southwest Fisheries Science Center researcher and Scripps graduate Aimee Lang as she describes how she and her colleagues are using genetic analyses of gray whales to gain valuable insight into their behavior, migratory patterns and distribution across the Pacific—information critical for managing the gray whale population in the North Pacific.