HARBOR BRANCH - OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

HARBOR BRANCH Ocean Science Lecture Series to Begin January 14 With an Insider's Look at the Census of Marine Life and Other Major Ocean Policy Initiatives

WHAT: Dr. Shirley Pomponi, HARBOR BRANCH's Vice President and Director of Research, will begin the institution's annual Ocean Science Lecture Series with a discussion of the $1 billion international Census of Marine Life and other major ocean science policy initiatives in which she plays a leadership role.

DATE: January 14, 2004

TIMES: 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., reception with speakers will follow each event

LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE: Dr. Pomponi will discuss:

1) Ongoing HARBOR BRANCH programs that are part of the Census of Marine Life

2) New animal species discovered in Florida waters and what future census efforts are likely to uncover

3) Impending policy changes at the national level that will have major impacts on Florida.

INTERVIEWS: Dr. Pomponi will be available for interviews the day of as well as prior to the talk.

PHOTOS AND B-ROLL of submersibles and new species discovered by HARBOR BRANCH, including a coral that produces a potential cancer-fighting compound for which the institution just filed a patent, are available. Some are of species discovered in Florida waters.

LOCATION: Main auditorium of the Johnson Education Center at HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution, 5600 U.S. 1 North, Fort Pierce, Florida

COST: Free

Scientists around the world are in the midst of one of the most ambitious oceanographic efforts ever undertaken: a census of the countless animal species from microbes to whales living in the sea, only a fraction of which have been identified. Dr. Shirley Pomponi, HARBOR BRANCH's vice president, is a member of the prestigious committee overseeing the U.S. contribution to this Census of Marine Life (CoML). On Wednesday, Jan. 14, she will kick off the institution's popular annual Ocean Science Lecture Series with a discussion of this impressive $1 billion international effort, which is critical to adequately understanding the oceans and how to protect them. She will also discuss a major movement underway to transform the country's ocean policies in coming months and years.

The CoML was originally envisioned as a program to inventory commercially important fish species as well as species of "charismatic megafauna" such as dolphins, whales, and sea turtles. However, based on the expressed needs of scientists around the world the program rapidly expanded. Its ambitious and daunting current scope is to survey all the animal species that have lived or currently live in the oceans and to predict which species are likely to survive in the future. This ten-year initiative, which began in 2000 and is still ramping up, includes hundreds of scientists from more than 50 countries, whose data on marine species the CoML is compiling into an internet-accessible database called the Ocean Biogeographic Information System. Another goal for CoML is the development of advanced technologies to allow more effective ocean exploration, an endeavor in which HARBOR BRANCH's engineers are involved. The philanthropic Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has provided much of the funding for the census pilot projects during the past three years, with individual governments contributing the rest. HARBOR BRANCH could receive as much as $1 million over the next five years for census-related research.

"The Census of Marine Life is an essential effort if humans are to adequately understand the impact we have on the ocean and its inhabitants, its impact on us, and the most important steps that must be taken to protect the ocean resources on which we rely," says Dr. Pomponi, who has played and continues to play various roles in the formation of ocean policy at the national level.

A key focus of the talk will be HARBOR BRANCH exploratory efforts producing data for the census, including work on Florida's Oculina Banks, in the Keys, and at more remote locations such as the mid-ocean ridges and midwater environments a hundred or more miles offshore. This includes the institution's drug discovery program, which for two decades now has explored the seafloor at various locations around the globe using the Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles and scuba to search for organisms that produce chemicals with the potential to fight diseases and other health problems. This program contributes detailed information about animals collected for pharmaceutical studies to the census, as well as the results of general studies of the biodiversity of life at research sites.

Other relevant HARBOR BRANCH programs to be covered in the lecture include the search for new organisms that produce their own light, or bioluminescence, studies of Atlantic jellyfish, and fish surveys in treacherous Arctic waters. Much of this work has also led to the discovery of new species.

Besides the CoML, Dr. Pomponi will also discuss some recent and upcoming reports related to ocean science policy that could have a significant impact on HARBOR BRANCH as well as management of Florida's ocean resources. Two of these reports, produced by National Academy of Sciences panels that included Dr. Pomponi, outlined recommendations for better deep-sea access and expanded efforts to explore the roughly 95% of the oceans that have never been studied (for more information please see: http://www.hboi.edu/news/press/nov1403.html).

Perhaps the most significant policy event, expected within the next few months, will be the release of a report by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, which is reviewing all aspects of the country's ocean-related activities and interests. Dr. Pomponi, who is a member of the Science Advisory Panel to this commission, will explain its significance and likely impacts.

"It's an exciting time to be involved in ocean sciences," says Dr Pomponi.

Dr. Pomponi is HARBOR BRANCH's vice president and director of research and was the director of Biomedical Marine Research from 1992 to 2002. She has led numerous research expeditions around the world and logged more than 200 dives in the institution's submersibles. Dr. Pomponi received her Ph.D. from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and joined HARBOR BRANCH in 1984.

For more information, to arrange an interview, or to request photos or b-roll, please contact Mark Schrope at 772-216-0389 or schrope@hboi.edu.

Ocean Science Lecture Series 2004 Schedule - CLICK HERE for more information

January 14 - Shirley Pomponi - The Census of Marine Life: How Many Fish Are in the Sea?

January 21 - Ned Smith - The Indian River Lagoon System: Five Lagoons, Five Inlets, Five Sound Bites

January 28 - Mark & Diane Littler - Waterways & Byways of Indian River Lagoon

February 4 - Susan Sennett - Marine Chemical Ecology: Applications in Marine Drug Discovery

February 11 - John Scarpa - Clam Strips and Oyster Po'Boys: Florida Aquaculture and the Environment

February 18 - Greg Bossart - The Indian River Lagoon Bottlenose Dolphin Health Assessment Program: "Flipper" Gets an Overdue Physical Examination

February 25 - Tammy Frank - Do Fish See Color?

March 3 - Sarath Gunasekera - Search for Anti-cancer Drugs and Success Stories

March 10 - Ken Riley - Integrated Aquaculture Education: Food for Thought

March 17 - Brian Lapointe - Invasion of Green Tides

March 24 - Tracey Sutton - Predators of the Deep

HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution was founded in Ft. Pierce, Fla., in 1971 to support the exploration and conservation of the world's oceans. The institution has held to this mission and grown into one of the world's leading oceanographic institutions with a 500-acre campus, over 200 personnel, and a fleet of sophisticated research ships and submersibles.