Submitted by Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
Oregon’s ocean is a place of incredible productivity and amazing biodiversity. The state is taking steps to protect its ocean treasures through its new system of marine reserves. At the next Nature Matters, held Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Fort George Lovell Building, Dr. Kirsten Grorud-Colvert will take us underwater to show how Oregon’s unique ecosystem supports the incredible journey of fishes traveling from open ocean to nearshore waters, to the deep offshore. She will explain how we can learn from fishes that settle in protected habitats by tracking when and where they end up, and how this knowledge can help inform successful protection of Oregon’s ocean ecosystems and the benefits they provide.
The 7:00 p.m. presentation takes place at the Fort George. The free event is open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m. to purchase dinner or beverages at the George before the event.
Grorud-Colvert is a marine ecologist and assistant professor in the Integrative Biology Department at Oregon State University. She has studied ocean organisms underwater and above the waves in the Oregon nearshore, the Florida Keys, and the California Channel Islands and has worked with fellow scientists around the world to compile and synthesize data from other marine systems. She is broadly interested in the ecology of marine communities and the connections between healthy ecosystems and the people that depend on them. A key goal of her work is to use data from diverse marine species and habitats to understand what happens when we protect an area of the ocean and to use that knowledge to design even better protection. Grorud-Colvert also directs the Science of Marine Reserves Project, an international collaboration to catalyze, synthesize, and communicate scientific data about marine protected areas to help find solutions to the challenges facing our ocean.
Nature Matters, a lively conversation about the intersection of nature and culture, takes place on the second Thursday of each month, October through May. Nature Matters is hosted by Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in partnership with the North Coast Watershed Association, the Lewis & Clark National Park Association, and the Fort George. For more information, call the park at 503-861-2471 or check out The National Park website or Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on Facebook or Instagram.
