The Speakers Bureau is one of the many ways Skidaway Institute faculty and staff serve the community. Our experts share their expertise on a wide range of oceanographic and environmental topics to a range of organizations including service clubs, community and civic organizations, professional and educational associations, library groups, senior centers, churches, school groups and museums.
To request a speaker, or if you’re inquiring about a media request, send an email to Jackson Schroeder, PR & communications coordinator, at jackson.schroeder@uga.edu.
If requesting a speaker, be sure to include:
*Group to be addressed
*Preferred topic. If possible, provide a first, second and third choice.
*Date and time
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Jackson Schroeder
Introduction to UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
So what is that place at the north end of Skidaway Island, and what are they doing there? Jackson Schroeder will answer those questions and more as he describes the history of the institute and profiles its cutting-edge research on the Georgia coast and around the world.
Dr. Clark Alexander
Sea level rise along the Georgia coast: past, present and future
Sea level has been changing in response to climate forcing throughout geologic history. Dr. Alexander will explore how far sea level has fallen and risen in the past; how fast is it rising now; and what can we expect in the future – all issues important to understand if we are to begin to plan for the impact of rising seas, of whatever magnitude, on our coastal environment.
Barrier islands and beach erosion
Our dynamic coast is constantly changing in response to storms, waves and currents. Dr. Alexander will discuss the processes that are acting to shape our coast, how the islands and beaches have developed over time, and how human activities at the coast change how these processes operate.
Earthquakes of the Southeastern United States
Everyone is familiar with the earthquakes that frequently occur on the West Coast of the US, and more recently, in many other parts of the world. But did you know that large earthquakes have been felt along the southeastern coast within recent history? Dr. Alexander will explain how earthquakes are created, the history of earthquakes in the southeast and the outlook for the future.
Dr. Jay Brandes
Plastic and microplastic pollution
Images such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch have attracted much attention to the problem of marine debris. Dr. Brandes will examine the issue of plastic pollution, especially microplastics, in the marine environment with a focus on the Georgia coast.
Dr. Cliff Buck
Oceanography 101
We live on or near the coast, yet many of us do not fully understand the important roles the ocean plays in our lives. Dr. Buck, in this general introduction to the science of oceanography, will introduce the audience to the ocean, its features, and the interactions between the ocean, human society and all life on the planet.
Ocean Acidification: The other CO2 problem
Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are impacting the chemistry of the oceans. Dr. Buck will discuss the implications of this planetary scale chemistry experiment.
Dr. Natalie Cohen
Harmful algal blooms
Harmful algal blooming species (HABs) threaten ecosystem health through the production of toxins or by promoting bottom water oxygen depletion. HAB species routinely show up in our Skidaway River Estuary, but what determines whether blooms form, and what are the associated ecosystem consequences? High resolution monitoring efforts recently began in 2023, led by Dr. Cohen and her lab. They are working to understand HAB seasonal timing, their relationship with water quality parameters, and to characterize their interactions with other microbes in the ecosystem.
Microbial ecology — Microbes contribute to the cycling of carbon in the marine biosphere.
Photosynthetic microbes convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic carbon which forms the base of the marine food web. Fixed carbon can be exported to deeper depths, locked away from the atmospheric/surface ocean interface. Over geologic timescales, phytoplankton can influence atmospheric concentrations gases and thus, our climate. Dr. Cohen studies the physiology and behavior of marine microbes with an emphasis on microeukaryotic organisms through a combination of approaches including lab experiments, field expeditions, and computational biology (DNA, RNA, proteins). Dr. Cohen and her research group aim to understand the ways in which marine microbes interact with their chemical environment and their biogeochemical roles. Their study ecosystems include the South Atlantic Bight, New England continental shelf, North Atlantic Ocean, California Current System, and Antarctica.
Dr. Catherine Edwards
Hurricane Gliders – Using Ocean Robots to Improve Tropical Storm Forecasts
The models hurricane forecasters use to predict the paths of storms have become much more accurate in recent years, but they still aren’t great at accurately predicting a storm’s intensity. Now, underwater gliders, operated by researchers at the University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, are part of a national effort to use marine robots to improve the accuracy of storm forecast models.
Tracking endangered right whales
Critically endangered right whales migrate from New England and Canadian waters to raise calves off the coasts of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina every winter. Gliders, deployed by Dr. Edwards and her team, can use hydrophones to detect and monitor right whales. This technology complements existing aerial surveys to send out real-time alerts.
Managing Fisheries with Robots and Artificial Intelligence
Marine robots can be used to map and track marine life that are important to fisheries managers in areas like Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary. Because fisheries managers, oceanographers and roboticists have different perspectives and knowledge bases, it can be difficult to take advantage of cutting-edge research in each field without significant effort to translate among the groups. However, artificial intelligence can be leveraged to create a multi-level planning tool for a fleet of marine robots to monitor fish populations in a dynamic coastal ocean environment.
Dr. Nick Foukal
The day before tomorrow: are we living on the precipice of a collapsing Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)?
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a.k.a. the great ocean conveyor belt, has long been thought of as a potential tipping point in our climate system and a means to describe very abrupt changes in global temperature detected in ice cores. Yet very little is known about how close we are to surpassing this tipping point, and whether the AMOC is unstable in our current climate system. In this talk, Dr. Foukal will discuss the current state of knowledge on the AMOC, how we got to this point of understanding, and why we still know so little.
Dr. Marc Frischer
Microbiology of the ocean
Dr. Frischer will explore the often overlooked but vitally important role of microbes in the marine environment. These “bottom of the food chain” creatures are the driving force behind much of the biological activity in the ocean.
The Good, the bad and the ugly, microbial contamination in our own backyard
Keeping our water sources clean and safe of microbial pathogens is one of the most essential requirements of modern societies. Dr. Frischer will take you on a historical journey from the Industrial Revolution to modern times exploring the continuing efforts to keep our water supply safe for human consumption and recreation.
Black Gill in Georgia shrimp; Where have Georgia’s shrimp gone?
For the past 20 years, a large percentage shrimp along the southeast U.S. have been affected by a once-mysterious condition known as black gill. Local shrimpers blame this this parasite-driven condition for reduced shrimp harvests in recent years. Dr. Frischer will discuss his research into black gill and how it is affecting Georgia shrimp.
Ocean response to climate change
The ocean both affects global climate change and is affected by it. Dr. Frischer will describe how the ocean fits into the climate change picture and what it means to us.
Dr. Adam Greer
Secret Life of Ocean Critters
Ocean animals live in a world that is relatively inaccessible to us. A variety of tools exist that help us sample marine life, but many of those tools are biased towards certain life forms, so we know relatively little about, for example, fragile gelatinous organisms. Dr. Greer will explore how new technologies, like towed camera systems, provide a glimpse into the world these ocean animals experience, and evidence of new behaviors and survival strategies. He will describe some of these discoveries and what they mean for our understanding of marine life.
The Gulf of Mexico: A Confluence of Life
The Gulf really has something for everyone and can teach us many lessons about how we can impact the ocean. Numerous rivers carry the signature of our land activities into the northern Gulf of Mexico. This area is also home to extremely productive fisheries (partly due to that high nutrient input from the rivers), oil extraction (due to the dead plankton that have been under high pressure in the rocks), and environmental threats, such as low oxygen waters that develop there every summer. And then of course there is a lot of tourism there because of the beautiful beaches and productive fishing. Dr. Greer can talk about all these factors and more.
Dr. Daniel Ohnemus
How does the chemistry of the ocean affect life on Earth?
Plants growing in the ocean are the base of the marine food chain and are responsible for half of the oxygen that we breathe. Ocean ecosystems have very different challenges to growth than land plants do, including limited access to nutrients like iron and zinc which are much rarer in seawater than in soil. Chemical oceanographers, like Dr. Ohnemus, study these nutrients, as well as toxins and the elemental cycles that drive the planet’s biosphere.
In the past, Dr. Ohnemus has spoken to the public about how global climate models are evolving through our advancing understanding of ocean chemistry. He’s also spoken about global survey programs like GEOTRACES and ocean time-series, which are ongoing efforts to advance our knowledge of the Earth. He’s also happy to talk about pros/cons/concerns about potential climate mitigation strategies that humans might take.