Researchers had barely begun to understand the ecology of coral reefs before human impacts started to kill off corals at ever alarming rates. For many the situation seems hopeless barring miraculously rapid decreases in burning of fossil fuels. However, the situation may be more nuanced.
Noted ecologist Jeremy Jackson will share his findings on the subject at a lecture entitled “Coral Reef Odyssey,” part of the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture series, co-hosted by the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and Yale Peabody Museum. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place Wednesday, November 13 from 5 to 6 pm in the Yale Peabody Museum’s Central Gallery.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Jackson to the Peabody. What is happening with our coral reefs is just one barometer of how climate change is impacting the world around us. I look forward to learning more about his perspective on this important topic,” said David Skelly, director of the Yale Peabody Museum.
Jackson said there is increasing evidence that local conservation actions achieve modest success, that some corals are adapting to rising temperatures, and others are migrating into higher latitudes. Moreover, exclusive scientific focus on just corals ignores priorities of local peoples for achievable goals of coastal protection and sustainable fisheries.
“Coral reefs as we knew and loved them will not soon recover, but all corals will not go extinct and much could be achieved by a broader focus on the overall health of tropical coastal ecosystems,” Jackson said.
Jackson studies the ecology, evolution, and conservation of coastal and ocean ecosystems. He holds emeritus positions at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History. Jackson has won numerous international prizes and awards and is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Fellow of AAAS.
He has authored more than 180 scientific publications and eleven books, most recently Breakpoint: Reckoning with America’s Environmental Crises and Shifting Baselines in Fisheries: Using the Past to Manage the Future.
Discover Magazine selected Jackson’s work on overfishing as its outstanding research achievement of 2001 and his TED talk How We Wrecked the Oceans has been watched almost one million times.