Helen Czerski: The Blue Machine

The ocean is often presented only as the backdrop to our world—something vast, mysterious, and peripheral. Helen Czerski is among the scientists who challenge this view. She studies how the ocean works as a dynamic planetary engine, a blue machine that absorbs and redistributes heat, regulates our climate, and incubates and sustains life. If we better understand the ocean’s interconnected systems, she argues, we can better protect it—and ourselves.

About the Speaker

Helen Czerski is Professor of Environment and Society at University College London. Her research focuses on ocean bubbles, air-sea gas transfer, and underwater acoustics. She has spent many months at sea, working on research ships from the Southern Ocean to the North Pole. She is fascinated by the physics of the natural world.

Czerski is also an award-winning science communicator. She has presented a wide variety of BBC science documentaries and is the co-host of Rare Earth on BBC Radio. She is the author of two award-winning books: Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life and Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes our World.

Event Details

• Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026
• Time: 7:00 PM
• Location: Bilger Hall 152, UH Mānoa

Dai Ho Chun Distinguished Chair

This event is made possible by the late Dai Ho Chun through his estate gift to the University of Hawai‘i Foundation. The Dai Ho Chun endowments support distinguished lectures across disciplines. Helen Czerski is the spring 2026 Dai Ho Chun chair in the College of Natural Sciences.

Lead Event Sponsor
College of Natural Sciences at UH Mānoa

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