PTMSC hosts annual meeting and guest lecturer Charles Wohlforth
For Immediate Release – January 31, 2008
Contact: Christina Pivarnik, Marketing
Port Townsend Marine Science Center
360.531.0127 or christina@pivarnik.com or info@ptmsc.org
Port Townsend, WA—On February 9, 2008, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) will be hosting its annual meeting at 4 p.m. in Fort Worden’s Building 204, located next to the Commons. Director Anne Murphy will briefly present an organizational perspective and then turn the floor over to lifelong Alaskan and author Charles Wohlforth. His presentation is called, On the Northern Front of Climate Change—What’s Next.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Charles Wohlforth as our first speaker in our 2008 lecture series,” said Murphy. “Climate change is a vital and timely topic for us all. Our upcoming lecture series is designed to enhance our understanding of two global issues: climate change and the impacts of plastics in the marine environment.”
Wohlforth has worked alongside the Inupiat people of Alaska’s Arctic, who are already experiencing climate change first-hand. He will discuss the ways in which their culture helped them perceive the changes in advance and enabled them to begin to adapt. He will describe the struggle Arctic scientists face as they try to make use of the Inupiat’s insights and examine the ways in which we too might look to our own roots as we prepare to adapt to climate change.
Wohlforth is a lifelong Alaskan and author of several books about the Far North. His 2004 work, The Whale and the Supercomputer, received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science and Technology and the Louis J. Battan Author’s Award from the American Meteorological Society.
Wohlforth’s visit is made possible by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Program and Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS).
Admission is free for PTMSC members and $7 for non-members. PTMSC is proud to take part in the International Polar Year (2007-2009), a global scientific and educational program to focus public attention on the Arctic and the Antarctic.
The Port Townsend Marine Science Center is devoted to understanding, preserving and teaching about our marine and shoreline environment as guardians for a sustainable future. Located on the beach at Fort Worden State Park, the PTMSC offers two public exhibits: the Marine Exhibit (ME) features large touch pools and aquaria, and the Natural History Exhibit (NHE) highlights the rich zone where land meets sea. The NHE is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. and the ME is open by appointment only. Admission to the NHE is $3 for adults, $2 for youth and free to PTMSC members. The PTMSC also offers a wide variety of educational programs and special events. For more information, call 360.385.5582, e-mail info@ptmsc.org or visit www.ptmsc.org.