Next Florida Tech Public Science Lecture Explores Marine Life of Antarctica Sept. 27

MELBOURNE, FLA.—The next free Public Science Lecture at Florida Institute of Technology, “The Magical Marine Life of Antarctica,” will be given by Richard Aronson, head of the Department of Biological Sciences, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. in the F.W. Olin Engineering Complex, Room EC118, on campus. There will be rooftop public star viewing following the presentation if weather permits.

Antarctica is the highest, driest, and coldest continent. On land the place is barren and forbidding, but the seas around Antarctica teem with marine life found nowhere else on Earth. Penguins, killer whales and leopard seals swimming through the freezing, crystal-clear waters are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Bright-red sea stars, sea spiders, giant pill bugs, huge ribbon worms, monster sea anemones and 200-year-old sponges pack the sea floor, forming vast communities that remind us of life under water hundreds of millions of years ago in the Paleozoic Era.

Marine life in Antarctica today is threatened by climate change and other human activities. What does the future hold for the unique and colorful marine life of Antarctica? Aronson has been studying Antarctica’s marine life for decades. His talk will take conjure a journey to the magical world under the sea ice and explore what we can do to confront the environmental threats to this most vulnerable of marine ecosystems.

The F.W. Olin Engineering Complex is located on West University Boulevard. For more information, call (321) 674-7207or visit www.fit.edu/aapls.