I’m in ice-covered DC this week to attend the 11th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment where the focus is Our Changing Oceans. Beginning tomorrow and running through Friday, I’ll be joining over 1500 delegates in attendance, and many more participating via live webcast, to help define the future of ocean policy.
Topics slated for discussion include an entire day dedicated to the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, climate change, changing oceans and human health, biodiversity loss, the national ocean policy, and global ocean governance issues. It’s going to be a full-on three days.
The speaker list is impressive: Blue Ocean Institute President Carl Safina, Interior Secretary Salazar, Director of US Geological Survey Marcia McNutt, NOAA Director Jane Lubchenco, “Her Deepness” Sylvia Earle, to name just a few. And Ira Flatow, host of Science Friday, National Public Radio, will be on hand to facilitate a discussion on possible future scenarios for our oceans.
Depending on connectivity, I hope to be able to live blog some of this meeting. Otherwise, I’ll post some retrospective thoughts at the end of each day. I’ll also try to tweet relevant moments for as long as my iPhone battery lasts. No big surprise, conference organizers haven’t created a Twitter feed for the meeting. You can follow my Twitter stream, @rmacpherson , or look for the hashtag #NCSE11 . If a formal conference stream is announced, I’ll update below this post.
In related news, the January 2011 issue of Solutions Journal is dedicated to “Solutions for the Oceans,” and is being released in tandem with the Our Changing Oceans meeting. This special issue, guest edited by my colleagues Drs. Nancy Knowlton, Jeremy Jackson and Jennifer Jacquet, explores innovative and promising solutions for our oceans and planet. It features articles by biologists, conservationists, and oceanographers, (including yours truly where I ask, “Is there really such a thing as sustainable sushi?“). More about this later.
UPDATE:
According to the NCSE Media Officer, Lyle Birkey, the official Twitter profile for the conference will be @NCSEconf and attendees can use either @NCSEconf or #NCSEconf for tracking tweets during the meetings.
