Embark on an evening of discovery as marine geochemist Scott Wieman recounts a recent month-long research expedition aboard the R/V Falkor(too) from Valparaíso to Puerto Montt, Chile. Scott’s talk blends his experiences birding the highly productive Humboldt current with the broader expedition’s exploration of numerous methane cold seeps and submarine canyons along the Chilean Margin. In addition to sharing photographs of the diverse pelagic bird life encountered and recounting his exciting sightings – including the first Murphy’s Petrel within 1000 miles of the Chilean mainland and seven different albatross species – Scott will provide a fascinating glimpse into daily life aboard an oceanographic research vessel, the remarkably unique deep-sea life observed, and how dissolved methane measurements can reveal key processes in marine carbon cycling.

About the presenter: Scott Wieman is a PhD Candidate in Marine Geochemistry and Ocean Instrumentation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He cannot pinpoint exactly when his passion for birding began, but there is a photograph of him at ~1 year old lying on the floor in a diaper with the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America open to the plate with the Blue Jay…upside down. While his research path has been highly nonlinear, ranging from theoretical chemistry to environmental law and from the ocean depths to the surface of Mars, he has specifically maintained birding as an avid hobby and never a research direction.

Format: Zoom Webinar
To Register: Zoom Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ou7lokIqQTukY7DYiOmVxA