Aquarium Video Presentations

Naomi Oreskes is a professor of history and science studies at the University of California, San Diego. She is an author and editor of many published works, and her most recent deals with the science of climate change. Her 2004 essay "The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change" led to op-ed pieces in the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Los Angeles Times and has been widely cited in the mass media, including National Public Radio and in the movie An Inconvenient Truth.

Dr. Conrad is the professor of parasitology at the University of California, Davis, school of veterinary medicine. She is the recipient of several teaching and research awards and has written over 170 scientific publications. Involved with sea otter research since 1998, she directed the development of methods to detect, isolate, and unravel the life history of parasites that kill sea otters.

Orrin Pilkey is a research professor and James B. Duke Professor Emeritus at the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment. He has received a number of awards including the Shepard medal for excellence in Marine Geology, The Priestly Award and public service awards from several geology societies. He has published 260 technical papers and edited and or written 40 books, the latest of which is The Rising Sea.

Dr. Seager is the president and CEO of Population Connection. Dr. Seager believes there is a clear connection between human population growth and virtually every global challenge from poverty to climate change and from species extinction to the political instability of failed nation-states.

Russ Parsons is the food editor and columnist of the Los Angeles Times. He has been writing about food for 25 years, including almost 20 years at The Times. He is the author of the cookbooks ‘‘How to Read a French Fry’’ and “How to Pick a Peach.” Parsons has won every major American food journalism award, including those from the International Association of Culinary Professionals the Association of Food Journalists, the James Beard Foundation, and the University of Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards.

This film, directed and produced by Aquarium of the Pacific staff, presents an opportunity to experience Southern California’s underwater beauty and to learn why MPAs are needed.

Dr. Carl Safina brought ocean conservation into the environmental mainstream. His hundred-plus publications and award-winning books include "Song for the Blue Ocean and Voyage of the Turtle." He’s been profiled by the New York Times, Nightline, and Bill Moyers. His awards include a Pew Fellowship, Lannan Literary Award, John Burroughs Medal, and a MacArthur Prize, among others.

Tim Brick is chairman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, representing the City of Pasadena on that board since 1985. Brick played an important role in the development of MWD’s World Water Forum program, which provides grants to Southern California colleges for educational efforts addressing world water problems. Brick graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and has pursued further studies in broadcast journalism and resource economics.

Dr. Griggs has been a professor of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz since 1968. He is presently the director of the Institute of Marine Sciences and also the chair of the University of California Marine Council. He served for 15 years as a geologic advisor to Santa Cruz County and has consulted widely for local, state, and national government agencies. Griggs' research and teaching have been focused on coastal processes, hazards, and coastal engineering. Since 1991, he has led an effort to develop a major marine research and education center at the University’s Long Marine Laboratory. Dr. Gary Griggs has written or co-written over 150 articles published in professional journals as well as several books.

Daniel Botkin is a scientist who studies life from a planetary perspective. He writes about nature, and is one of the world’s leading researchers who has helped solve major environmental issues. Dr. Botkin is a research professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California Santa Barbara and president of The Center for the Study of the Environment. For 39 years, as a Ph. D. ecologist, Botkin has tried to understand life on the Earth. He has studied moose in the far north, elephants in Africa, bowhead whales in the northern ocean, and forests in North and Central America. Botkin has worked as a professional journalist and has degrees in physics, biology, and literature.