Aquarium Audio
Hear Our Latest Aquacasts
Ian Mitroff
Swans, Swine, and Swindlers
Crisis management expert Ian Mitroff has co-authored a book with Can Alpaslan addressing what steps we can take to better anticipate and manage crises, such as the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11. Swans, Swine, and Swindlers: Coping with the Growing Threat of Mega-Crises and Mega-Messes explores the concept of messes—webs of complex and dynamically interacting problems—and then provides tools and frameworks to deal with the crises of today and tomorrow. Mitroff is a professor at the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management at Alliant University in San Francisco.
Wendy Williams
Kraken: Tales of Octopus Smarts and Super Cephalopods
In her presentation on December 1, 2011, Wendy Williams will teased out fact from fiction based on the findings in her new book, Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid. “Kraken” is the traditional name for gigantic sea monsters. The book examines the world’s enthralling cephalopods, including the octopus and the cuttlefish, and explores their otherworldly camouflage and bioluminescent abilities.
Henry Pollack
The New Face of the Arctic
Henry Pollack spoke at the Aquarium on November 9, 2011 on the topic of warming in the Arctic. He is an emeritus professor of geophysics at the University of Michigan, where he served as chairman of the department of geological sciences and associate dean for research in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. He is a science advisor to former Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Project and a contributing author to the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report.
Julie Skoglund
Gulf Oil Spill 2010: An Overview of the Bird Rehabilitation Efforts
Julie Skoglund, who spoke at the Aquarium on August 16, 2011, has worked for International Bird Rescue since 2004. She has been the rehabilitation manager at Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles location for the past four years. After the Gulf oil spill, she designed and built an oiled bird center in Alabama and managed bird care in Louisiana.
Rosi Dagit
Penguins in our Watershed? Adventures in Antarctica and the Santa Monica Mountains
Rosit Dagit, who spoke at the Aquarium about the impact of climate change on sensitive species on September 1, 2011, has been a researcher with the non-profit research and education foundation Oceanites and the Antarctic Site Inventory since its inception in 1994 and a senior conservation biologist with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains since 1988.
Judith Weis
Do Fish Sleep?
Judith Weis, who spoke at the Aquarium on October 18, 2011, is a professor of biological sciences at Rutgers University and the author of Do Fish Sleep? Fascinating Answers to Questions about Fishes. She is also the chair of the Science Advisory Board of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
The Arctic Fox
Resilient and adaptable as it is, will the arctic fox be able to survive the challenges ahead?
The IUCN lists the Arctic Fox as one of the species most vulnerable to the effects of climate change in its environment.
Magellanic Penguin
Spheniscus Magellanicus, A Penguin for All Seasons
Throughout history, penguins have captured the hearts and imagination of people of all ages. Comical and endearing, our perception of this awkward creature belies its amazing abilities to survive in the ocean and on land.
June Keyes Penguin Habitat
Get up-close with more than a dozen Magellanic Penguins both above and below the water in the new June Keyes Penguin Habitat.
The exhibit is home to the first penguins in the Aquarium’s collection and includes a crawl-in space, allowing you to feel as if you are in the exhibit with the animals.
The Invisible Ocean
Is the ocean’s beauty in the eye of the beholder?
The largest geographic feature of our planet is the ocean, almost inconceivable in size to the imagination. It is in this vast environment that microscopic plants and animals make our planet habitable.
LuAnn Dahlman
Antarctica's Climate Secrets: Drilling into the Past to Predict the Future
LuAnn Dahlman, who spoke at the Aquarium on September 22, 2011, spent a season at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, working with an international group of scientists and drillers who are doing this innovative research. Dahlman is part of the Communications and Education group at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office and develops climate-related educational materials.
Rob Mortensen
Micronesian Kingfishers
Rob Mortensen, who spoke at the Aquarium on October 25, 2011, is the Aquariums assistant curator of birds and mammals. He previously served as a zookeeper at the Santa Barbara Zoo, a senior aquarist at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and an attack helicopter crew chief for the U.S. Army.
Daniel Beltra and Larry McKinney
The Deepwater Horizon Blowout: Two Perspectives—An Artist and a Scientist
Daniel Beltrá and Larry McKinney presented a joint lecture at the Aquarium on October 13, 2011, and discussed the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Beltrá is a professional photographer based in Seattle. His photography covering the Gulf spill was exhibited at the Aquarium. McKinney provided the scientist’s perspective. He serves as the executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.
Craig Heberer
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: The State of Our Pacific Tuna Resources
Craig Heberer, who spoke at the Aquarium on October 11, 2011, works as a fisheries biologist with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Southwest Region, Sustainable Fisheries Division. He serves as the lead biologist for the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species. Heberer was born and raised in San Pedro, California and grew up in the Croatian commercial tuna fishing industry.
Joe Roman
Raising Whales: How Cetaceans Engineer Ocean Ecosystems
Joe Roman spoke at the Aquarium on September 28, 2011 about his research into the ecological role of whales in the ocean. He is a conservation biologist, freelance writer, and researcher at the University of Vermont. His research appears in the journals Science, BioScience, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, among others.