ARCHIVED EVENT
Into the Wild: Restoring the Endangered White Abalone
Lecture, Photo Exhibition, Cocktail Hour, Music. Opening Night to a photo exhibit at the Aquarium
Into the Wild: Restoring the Endangered White Abalone
Lecture, Photo Exhibition, Cocktail Hour, Music. Opening Night to a photo exhibit at the Aquarium
Credit: Oriana Poindexter
The white abalone is an endangered marine snail native to the California coast. Into the Wild introduces viewers to white abalone, their habitat and the threats they face, and chronicles the ongoing restoration efforts. Threatened with extinction due to low population densities in the wild, the white abalone needs our help to hold on. A partnership of more than a dozen government agencies, academic groups, and aquariums has come together to help this species through a captive breeding and outplanting program, whose goal is to restore wild populations of white abalone to be self-sustaining into the future. The Aquarium of the Pacific plays an important role in this effort by caring for juvenile white abalone, releasing the animals into the wild, and educating visitors about the species
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Oriana Poindexter, Pelagic Projects
Oriana Poindexter is a marine scientist and artist. She explores the balancing act between the use and conservation of marine resources. Oriana earned her Bachelors from Princeton University and pursued her Master’s degree in Marine Biodiversity & Conservation from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. She went on to work as a collaborating scientist with both the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography on projects connecting fishermen, scientists, policy makers, chefs and consumers to the science behind the seafood from our local waters. Today, as the founder of Pelagic Projects, she applies her expertise to translational marine science projects that impact change in coastal communities both local and global. Currently, Oriana is creating a book to visualize the story of California’s iconic abalone, their history, and today’s restoration efforts.
Dr. Melissa Neuman, NOAA Fisheries
Dr. Melissa Neuman received her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. During her time as an undergraduate, she pursued two marine biology programs (Shoals Marine Laboratory and Sea Semester) that set her on the path to a career in marine ecology and conservation. She pursued a Master’s Degree in Fisheries Science from the University of Rhode Island (1993) and a Doctorate Degree from Rutgers University in Ecology and Evolution (1999). In 2002, Melissa began working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Long Beach, CA. Her work is focused on conducting status reviews for at risk marine species, making decisions about whether to list species as endangered or threatened under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA), and developing recovery plans for species that receive ESA protection. Currently, one of her primary responsibilities is to implement NOAA’s strategy for conserving and restoring endangered white abalone through captive propagation and enhancement activities. In this capacity, Melissa works closely with the Aquarium of the Pacific and a consortium of other partners to assess remnant wild populations of white abalone, identify viable habitats for abalone restoration, assess the impacts of disease on future enhancement activities, develop genetic tools that will increase the robustness of the captive breeding program and help us track the success of enhancement activities, and develop methods for successful reintroduction of captive white abalone to the wild.
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