Sustainable Planet Series | Nature Matters | Other Lectures

Note: advance registration required. Visit tickets.sdnhm.org to obtain a free ticket for each lecture. Reserved theater seating with ticket guaranteed only until 6:15 PM. Online tickets are available for future dates; same-day tickets available only at the Museum.

Lectures recorded by ITV and rebroadcasted. The ITV broadcast schedule is available online (subject to change), check your local listings.

All lectures are held in the Charmaine and Maurice Kaplan Theater. Books are available for purchase in the Museum Store. Don't forget to see our new Webcasts of past lectures.

Earth: The Sequel
Lecture and book signing with Fred Krupp
Discover the story of the exciting race to reinvent energy and stop global warming. Take a virtual tour of emerging clean-energy ventures highlighting the scientists and businessmen, visionaries and dreamers, innovators and risk-takers who are pushing technology to the limit on a quest to find new ways to create energy. Examine breakthroughs in solar, wind, and biomass technologies. Explore how we will reinvent everything from cars to concrete and replace the old, dumb, centralized electrical grid with a smart, multidirectional energy network. With ingenuity and innovation and the power of markets, we can end global warming before it is too late.
Tuesday, February 3; 6:30–8 PM–Sold Out.

Homo Sapiens: Threatened Species
Panel discussion with Steve Fambro, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Aptera Motors; Barry Logan, Owner and Farmer, La Milpa Organica Farm; and Bob Gilleskie, former Director of Engineering at the California Center for Sustainable Energy
Human activities have caused highest atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane to date. Because human actions create large emissions of green-house gasses that contribute to climate change, our personal choices can lessen the impact. Learn how we can reduce our carbon footprint though informed decisions about the consumption of transportation, food, and water.
Tuesday, March 17; 6:30–8 PM

All lectures are free of charge and held at the Charmaine and Maurice Kaplan Theater at the San Diego Natural History Museum at 6:30 PM. Please arrive early as theater seating is limited. Museum doors open at 6 PM.

Our planet faces unprecedented human-caused threats to many species through habitat destruction, climate change, and the disruption of natural communities by species invasions. Today’s ecologists study the Earth’s biota to address needs for stewardship into the future. In this series, hear cutting-edge scientists, whose studies of the genetics, behaviors, and interactions among organisms and their environments pave the way for scientifically informed conservation.

Join us for a series of lectures that will provide new insights into the challenges faced by the natural world and discover how modern ecology research can provide answers for better environmental stewardship.

Conservation and the Futures of Life
David Woodruff, Ph.D., Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, UCSD
The world is quickly losing species and becoming dominated by fewer and fewer plants and animals. This decrease in biodiversity results in unnatural, simplified communities that may not provide humans with the ecological services they depend upon. Dr. Woodruff will illustrate the ways conservation biologists can affect the future of life on a planet experiencing an irruption of one species (humans), global environmental degradation, and climate change. Learn the importance of biodiversity, of parks and zoos, and of Dr. Woodruff’s own pioneering use of genetic methods to help save endangered species including chimpanzees and elephants.
Thursday, November 6, 2008; 6:30–8 PM

Life and Death among the Flowers:
The Perils and Secret Language of Bees
James Nieh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, UCSD
Biting into a vine-ripe tomato is a familiar summer delight brought to you courtesy of bees who are crucial pollinators in natural and agricultural ecosystems. However, underlying the idyllic image of these nectar gatherers is a sometimes fiercely competitive world of sudden death and gang violence among scented blossoms. Discover this other side of bee life and the ingenious adaptations, including language, that bees have evolved in response to the perils of pollination.
Thursday, January 22, 2009; 6:30–8 PM

Life on the Edge:
Ingenious Survival Strategies in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts
Therese Markow, Ph.D., Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, USCD
The giant columnar cacti of the North American deserts, in addition to their majestic appearance, serve as the homes for dozens of species of insects who depend upon these plants for their survival. In order to occupy this habitat, however, these tiny creatures have had to adapt to the high temperatures and extreme dryness of the desert, as well as to the harsh chemicals and nutritionally poor food provided by the cacti. Learn the “Survivorman” adaptations that enable animals to thrive in these extreme habitats.
Thursday, February 26, 2009; 6:30–8 PM

Climate Change and Southern California Ecosystems
Elsa Cleland, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, UCSD
Numerous environmental changes are occurring in Southern California, including rising carbon dioxide levels, warmer average temperatures, increasingly variable rainfall, and more frequent and intense wildfires. Dr. Cleland will discuss her research into how these environmental changes alter growing conditions for plants, with ramifications for the conservation of California native plant communities, and the continued provision of valuable ecosystem services.
Thursday, April 30, 2009; 6:30–8 PM

Ants Marching: A Biological Invasion in Your Own Backyard
David Holway, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, UCSD
The introduction of species into new environments has become economically costly and environmentally destructive. Because social insects (ants, bees, wasps, and termites) form densely populated, well-protected and long-lived colonies, these insects often become abundant and can profoundly affect the ecosystems they invade. The Argentine ant, one of the world’s most widespread, abundant, and damaging invasive species, thrives in California, where it displaces native ants and disrupts ecosystems. Explore the factors underlying the success of this notorious invader and learn about potential strategies to limit its abundance.
Thursday, May 14, 2009; 6:30–8 PM

Assistive Listening Devices for films and lectures in the Charmaine and Maurice Kaplan Theater are available at the Visitor Services Desk.

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