UCSC lecture series spotlights coastal policy challenges

A ten-week lecture series at UC Santa Cruz on "Coastal Policy Challenges of the 21st Century" will be held on Wednesdays at 2 p.m., starting April 4. The lectures are free and open to the general public and will take place in Room 114 of the Physical Sciences Building on the UCSC campus.

The lectures have been organized for an environmental toxicology course (Coastal Environmental Toxicology and Policy) organized by Michael Connor, adjunct professor of environmental toxicology and executive director of the San Francisco Estuary Institute; Russell Flegal, professor of environmental toxicology; and Gary Griggs, professor of Earth and planetary sciences.

The scheduled speakers and their topics are listed below. For more information about this lecture series, please call (831) 459-4719.

April 4: Will Travis, Executive Director, Bay Conservation and Development Commission

"How does a state agency that was created to prevent the Bay from shrinking deal with rising sea level from global warming, which is making the Bay bigger?"

April 11: Judith Kildow, Social Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

"Valuing the Ocean: Choice or Necessity?"

April 18: Paul Siri, Executive Director, Ocean Science Applications, California Coastal Conservancy

"Why California is leading the way in ocean observing"

April 25: Carrie Austin, San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board

"Managing mercury pollution in San Francisco Bay"

May 2: Gary Griggs, Director, Institute of Marine Sciences, UCSC

"California Coastal Hazards, Policies, and Practices"

May 9: Steve Ritchie, Project Manager, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project

"The South Bay Salt Pond Resoration Project: The Wild Heart of Silicon Valley"

May 16: Brent Haddad, Professor of Environmental Studies, UCSC

"Prospects for and potential impacts of desalination in California"

May 23: Churchill Grimes, Fisheries Ecology Division Director, NOAA Fisheries Service

"Ecosystem-based fisheries management: What does it mean for Central California?"

May 30: Amber Mace, Executive Director, California Ocean Science Trust

"Putting Humpty Dumpty together again: How the California Ocean Protection Council and Ocean Science Trust provide a framework for ocean management"

June 6: Ross Clark, Environmental Scientist, California Coastal Commission

"Critical coastal areas: Developing tools and partnership on California's coast"

Additional information about Environmental Toxicology at UCSC is available online.