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"Marine Environmental Research and Education at the Smithsonian Marine Station" • Valerie Paul, Ph.D. Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce About the Lecture - 2006 Dr. Valerie Paul, Director of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, will share information about the research and educational activities at the Smithsonian Marine Station. The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce has been a center for research and education in the marine sciences for the past thirty-five years, specializing in studies of the biodiversity and ecology of Florida's marine and estuarine ecosystems. Research focuses on the Indian River Lagoon and nearshore waters of Florida's central Atlantic coast, with comparative studies throughout coastal Florida and in other coastal environments around the world. The Marine Station is administered by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and serves as a field station that draws over 100 top scientists and students each year from the Smithsonian and collaborating institutions around the world. Smithsonian Marine Station researchers have addressed such important scientific problems as understanding long-term changes in biodiversity and ecological communities in response to environmental changes, invasive species, and other human impacts. In August 2001, the Smithsonian Marine Station teamed with St. Lucie County and other community partners to create the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit in the St. Lucie County Marine Center on South Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce. More than 60,000 visitors have now enjoyed the six model ecosystems, including a 3,000 gallon living coral reef that was originally on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. In recent months several new exhibits -- including lifelike models of mangrove and Oculina habitats -- have been unveiled, and new educational programs have been developed. About the Speaker Valerie J. Paul is currently Head Scientist at the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Florida. She received her B.A. from the University of California, San Diego in 1979 with majors in Biology and Studies in Chemical Ecology and her Ph.D. in Marine Biology in 1985 from the University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Dr. Paul joined the faculty of the University of Guam Marine Laboratory in 1985, served as Director of the Laboratory from 1991-1994, and as full Professor from 1993-2002. Valerie's research interests include marine chemical ecology, marine plant-herbivore interactions, coral reef ecology, and marine natural products. Dr. Paul was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1996 and was elected and served as chairperson of the Marine Natural Products Gordon Research Conference in 2000 (vice-chair in 1998). She currently serves on the editorial boards of the journals Coral Reefs and Journal of Natural Products. She is the author or co-author of over 150 research papers and review articles. |