MSI Public Lecture Series

Dr. Kenneth H. Dunton

Thursday, January 26^th, 2006 at 7:00 PM
The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Visitor Center Auditorium

"From Penguins to Polar Bears: A View of Marine Life Under Polar Ice"

Recent oceanographic explorations in the Arctic and Antarctic have revealed an unexpectedly high diversity of animals and plants living within the sea ice, in the water column, and on the sea floor.

These discoveries are exciting since they show the amazing adaptations these creatures have made to life in a very harsh and extreme environment. The biodiversity of these high-latitude ecosystems also reflects the resilience of polar food webs to disturbances caused by natural processes and by man's activities.

In this lecture, Dr. Dunton will share pictures of his underwater travels to both the Arctic and Antarctic, showing the array and abundance of life that lives beneath the ice of the polar oceans. He will also discuss how changes in climate are beginning to affect these distant but critical ecosystems that are very diverse and productive.

Dr. Dunton is a Research professor at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and studies Marine Botany and Coastal Ecology.  To learn more about Ken’s research go to:  http://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/people/staff/dunton/index.htm