BES 5th Anniversary Celebration: Saving Gaia – Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
Synopsis
“I wish you would use all means at your disposal – films, expeditions, the web, new submarines – to create a campaign to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas; Hope Spots large enough to save and restore the blue heart of the planet”
Dr. Sylvia Earle
Oceans serve as our primary resource for life which is essential for human survival. They help to regulate our climate, are a habitat of incredible biodiversity and provide us with amazing raw resources for medical use. However, human activities have pushed oceans to their limits through unsustainable fishing practices, shipping, oil and gas exploration, pollution and climate change, resulting in irreversible damage to marine ecosystems.
Dr. Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer, explorer and author and has been at the forefront of ocean exploration for more than four decades. She is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, a position she has held since 1998. As the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Dr. Earle was named by Time Magazine as its first hero for the Planet in 1998. Dr. Earle is, amongst others, also the Founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, Inc. She has a PhD degree from Duke University and 20 honorary degrees, and has done pioneering research on algae, probed the ecology of coral reefs and set records for deep diving. Dr Earl is a tireless advocate for our oceans as an essential environmental habitat, and in her lecture, will explore key environmental issues the oceans are facing and methods to attain sustainability in order to preserve the marine biodiversity.
Speakers:
Dr Sylvia Earle
Oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence
Rosemary and Roger Enrico Chair for Ocean Exploration
USA