ECo Talks: Participatory Science in Ocean Exploration with Allen Collins, Research Zoologist
Hear from Research Zoologist at NOAA Fisheries and Curator of Invertebrates with the Smithsonian Natural Museum of Natural History Allen Collins, who will present his talk, “Participatory Science in Ocean Exploration,” as part of the new Georgetown series produced by the Earth Commons. Every Friday beginning on September 1 with Dr. Collins, ECo Talks features scholars, leaders and innovators sparking conversation, sharing knowledge, and spurring change.
About the Speaker: Dr. Collins’ research focuses on the evolutionary history of relatively simple animals, cnidarians (jellyfishes, corals, etc.), placozoans (aka Trichoplax), and sponges. He generates and uses evolutionary trees, known as phylogenetic hypotheses, to better understand how the amazing biodiversity of these groups—in terms of morphology, life history, and genetics—has come to be.
“I will present on the global effort to document and characterize marine organisms, especially those that inhabit the deep sea. At a time when the climate is changing rapidly, and only a relatively small proportion of marine biodiversity is known to science, the need for taxonomy and systematics have never been greater. Organizational partnerships and community efforts are necessary to accelerate the pace and quality of biodiversity characterization. Operating at the crux of a partnership between NOAA and Smithsonian, I will draw from my experiences working with NOAA Ocean Exploration expeditions, with community engagement enabled by telepresence, to show how a combination of new and old tools – traditional specimen sampling, high definition video, mapping, acoustics, and even sampling of loose environmental DNA – are being applied to document biological communities of the deep sea. Because the importance of this type of work relates to the value of species, I will briefly discuss how species are valued by society and me personally.”
Event Details: Light refreshments will be provided. Free and open to all. No RSVP required.
About the Series: ECo Talks are presented by the Earth Commons Fridays 11 am – 12:30 pm in Arrupe Hall Conference Room. Learn more about the series >>