Future of Oceans lecture: “Marine Heat Waves and the Ecology of Southern California Kelp Forests”

Future of Oceans lecture “Marine Heat Waves and the Ecology of Southern California Kelp Forests”
Sunday, October 4
3pm
Wheeler Theater
Please note: A Discover Pass is required to park at Fort Worden Historical State Park.
Space is limited. To keep this series accessible to all, regardless of the ability to pay, there is no set charge for the event; however, donations are always welcomed and appreciated.
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Marine heat waves which occur during El Niños and the shoreward encroachment of northeast Pacific warm water masses adversely affect the growth, reproduction, and survival of giant kelp throughout its range resulting in a cascade of effects throughout these iconic forests. I will highlight why heat waves are deleterious to kelp forests and how the structure of kelp forests is changing off southern California.
About the Speaker:
Ed Parnell is a marine ecologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He grew up in San Diego where his obsession with the marine realm developed spending summers fishing and diving there and off Baja California. As an undergraduate and later research associate at UC San Diego he worked for the kelp ecology group at Scripps studying the recovery of the kelp forests after the devastating El NIno of 1983. Eventually warmer waters beckoned him to the graduate programs in biological oceanography at the University of Hawai’i in Honolulu where he obtained his master’s and Ph.D.degrees. His work there included studying the effects of how human activities such as pollution have altered the island’s coastal ecosystems and larval ecology. After a brief stint as a postdoctoral researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute continuing larval ecological studies he eventually returned to Scripps and became a research oceanographer where he has led the kelp ecology research program studying the effects of warming and El Nino on the kelp forests of southern California and on the design of Marine Protected Areas that were established as part of the California Marine Life Protection Act. He is a team member of the West Coast Ocean Alliance that has developed a report card for the state of kelp off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington and he is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the California Kelp Restoration and Management Plan to develop a framework for developing best management practices for giant and bull kelp resilience.

Our lecture series, The Future of Oceans, draws on the commitment of professional researchers and educators across all academic spectrums to help define and inspire the health of our oceans.
To see upcoming lectures for 2026-2027 and catch up on any past lectures that you missed, visit our Lectures page: https://ptmsc.org/lectures/
Thanks to the Darrow Family for their ongoing support.