ODU Presents: Lytton J. Musselman Natural History Lecture
- Date/Time
- 04/16/2015 7:00 PM EST - 9:00 PM EST
- Location
- Webb University Center
- Description
- -
ODU Presents: Lytton J. Musselman Natural History Lecture Speaker
Steve Haddock
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Webb University Center
Living in the ocean just a few miles offshore are creatures more alien than any science fiction movie. Although they can reach lengths of a hundred feet, most of these are so fragile that they haven't been observed until recently. Steven Haddock, a scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and U.C. Santa Cruz uses submarine vehicles and SCUBA diving to collect and study them.
With cutting edge tools, he addresses centuries-old questions of how their diversity has arisen and how they have adapted to life in the vast deep sea, including their ability to produce bioluminescent light. To us, this is like a magical superpower, but in the ocean a huge diversity of organisms use light in their daily (and nightly) lives.
With animals collected in good condition, Haddock can study who makes light, how they do it, and why. In addition to serving a variety of functions for the organisms, bioluminescent and fluorescent molecules also have direct biotech applications that improve human life.