Aquarium Video Presentations

LuAnn Dahlman, who spoke at the Aquarium on September 22, 2011, spent a season at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, working with an international group of scientists and drillers who are doing this innovative research. Dahlman is part of the Communications and Education group at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office and develops climate-related educational materials.

Rob Mortensen, who spoke at the Aquarium on October 25, 2011, is the Aquariums assistant curator of birds and mammals. He previously served as a zookeeper at the Santa Barbara Zoo, a senior aquarist at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and an attack helicopter crew chief for the U.S. Army.

Daniel Beltrá and Larry McKinney presented a joint lecture at the Aquarium on October 13, 2011, and discussed the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Beltrá is a professional photographer based in Seattle. His photography covering the Gulf spill was exhibited at the Aquarium. McKinney provided the scientist’s perspective. He serves as the executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.

Craig Heberer, who spoke at the Aquarium on October 11, 2011, works as a fisheries biologist with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Southwest Region, Sustainable Fisheries Division. He serves as the lead biologist for the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species. Heberer was born and raised in San Pedro, California and grew up in the Croatian commercial tuna fishing industry.

Dr. Richard Feely, who spoke on May 23, 2011, is a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. He also holds an affiliate full professor faculty position at the University of Washington’s School of Oceanography. His major research areas are carbon cycling in the ocean and ocean acidification processes.

Dr. James Lindholm, who spoke at the Aquarium on April 27, 2011, is the James W. Rote Distinguished Professor of Marine Science and Policy and the founder and director of the Institute for Applied Marine Ecology at California State University, Monterey Bay. His research interests include the landscape ecology of fishes, the recovery of seafloor habitats following the cessation of fishing activity, and the design and efficacy of marine protected areas.

Dr. Milton Love, who spoke at the Aquarium on June 7, 2011, is a research biologist at the Marine Science Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has conducted research on the marine fishes of California for over forty years. He has been a recreational angler since 1955 and was briefly a commercial fisherman in Santa Barbara.

Marc Shargel, who spoke at the Aquarium on June 28, 2011, has been diving along the California coast since 1978. He has been working as a professional marine life photographer for over twenty years. A longtime advocate for the adoption of marine reserves, Shargel served on the state's official advisory body, helping to select sites for marine protected areas along the southern central coast.

Janna Shackeroff, who spoke at the Aquarium on July 13, 2011, is the international coordinator for the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, based in Silver Spring, Maryland. A Seal Beach native, she earned her Ph.D. in marine ecology and anthropology at Duke University in 2008, then began working for NOAA at a marine protected area in Hawaii. In 2010 the journal "Science" recognized Shackeroff as one of four emerging leaders in marine conservation.

Ana Pitchon is an assistant professor of anthropology at CSU Dominguez Hills. She specializes in marine human ecosystems and fisheries policy, and has held consultancies in the U.S. with NOAA. She is currently working in collaboration with NOAA on issues related to coastal resource dependency as part of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act National Standard 8 research program.