Event Details
TALK
Green Foundation Ireland invites you to participate in an evening online talk:
FROM BELUGA WHALES TO STELLER SEA LIONS –
Life and research at the edge of the world
THURSDAY 19 MAY 2022 – 19:00 to 20:00
by Zoom
(log-on details will be issued nearer the time to those who register)
As always at our events,
an important part will be the
Q&A session which will allow full
participation by those attending.
TICKET DETAILS
While admission is FREE to this event, registration is NECESSARY as places are strictly limited.
Please secure your place by booking here.
Event Programme
OUR GUEST SPEAKER
GREG O’CORRY-CROWE
Greg is currently Professor at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Florida Atlantic University.
Much of his childhood was spent in the countryside of Kilkenny, wandering the fields and woods looking for foxes and birds, learning the sights and sounds of nature and pondering important questions like “why do cuckoos spit?” Somehow he made it to University to study Zoology and conduct graduate research on badgers when the badgers and bovine TB issue was emerging in Ireland. He was then fortunate to get a chance to go to Alaska after his studies. That trip shaped the course of Greg’s career, not just because of the incredible wildlife and epic scenery but also because of the surprisingly familiar story and view on life of the indigenous people.
For over 25 years Greg and his team have conducted studies on beluga whales, Steller sea lions, polar bears, bottlenose dolphins and ice seals, many in partnership with these northern communities. They’ve found a way to harness the promise of genetics and genomics and the access and detail satellite telemetry can provide with the uniquely powerful perspectives and insights indigenous knowledge gives, to build a clear understanding of the natural world as well as a deeper sense of our place in it.
THEME
Life in the far north is challenging for human and beast. It also creates unique challenges for those who choose to study wildlife in these regions. But it is worth the effort.
Greg O’Corry-Crowe and his team have been fortunate enough to spend the last 3 decades working in the Arctic and North Pacific Ocean on marine mammals, much of which has been conducted in partnership with indigenous peoples from the Russian Far East to Alaska and Canada. From remote field camps to genetic labs they’ve tried to unlock many of the mysteries of these incredible animals and their environments.
This work must now quicken its pace if we are to understand how polar and sub-polar ecosystems are to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
Photo: Courtesy of the White Whale Programme
This event is part of National Biodiversity Week 2022
organised by the Irish Environmental Network.