Scientific Colloquium
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
**1:30 p.m. - NOTE SPECIAL DAY AND TIME**
Co-Sponsored by the Exploring Leadership Colloquium


"Underwater Eden and What We Each Can Do to Create and Sustain a Healthy Ocean Environment"

Dr. Greg Stone began his career as an ocean scientist, pioneering research in Antarctica on marine mammals and ice ecology, where he mastered the art of diving into icebergs. Today he is well-known for his leadership in the effort to create the world's second-largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) around the Phoenix Islands, northeast of New Zealand, in Kiribati. Working with the government of Kiribati, Dr. Stone helped establish the MPA using market-based tools to conserve ocean biodiversity in order to encourage continued local development, rather than destruction of local communities' livelihoods.

Dr. Stone will relate the amazing, and unprecedented story of saving the last coral wilderness on Earth by creating the world's largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage Site. He will share details, starting with the first underwater dive, through four major scientific expeditions and planning meetings over the course of a decade, to high-level negotiations with the government of Kiribati – a small island nation dependent on the revenue from the surrounding fisheries. Creating this site was by no means easy or straightforward. It's a story of cutting-edge science, fierce commitment, and innovative partnerships rooted in a determination to find common ground among conservationists, business interests, and governments, all backed up by hard-headed economic analysis.

About the Speaker:

Greg is an Executive Vice President and Chief Ocean Scientist of Conservation International, as well as Senior Vice President of Exploration and Conservation at the New England Aquarium. He is an oceanographer with over 7,000 dives in all oceans, including with deep sea submersibles. Dr. Stone spent 30 days in a saturation habitat underwater. He led expeditions for National Geographic to Antarctica, Thailand, and the Pacific Islands. Greg also authored hundreds of publications in NATURE, National Geographic Magazine, and Science, as well as dozens of book chapters. Dr. Stone also wrote three books, including Antarctica: Ice Island, which won the National Outdoor Book Award.

Note: Copies of Dr. Stone's latest book, Underwater Eden, will be provided to Goddard civil servants on a first come basis.


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