Nobel Conference - Our Global Ocean - Day 1
Before I begin I want to say….if you are like me and really sick of
what is offered on TV, if reality TV has become way too real with TMI (too much
information) then this conference, which is posted on the internet, is an option
for you!!
If you are homeschooling older
children, this conference is really for you.
If you are a young person who is thinking about an education in marine
biology or other related fields, this conference is for you.
Please, please check out their website for
prior year conference topics to see if there is something there of
interest. This was sooooo much better
than anything on TV!!
Monday
is pack up day and heading to southwestern Minnesota, about a 4 hour drive from
Karen’s home.
We
cross over from Wisconsin into Minnesota and immediately after we have crossed
the Mississippi I am aware of the climb up out of the river valley. Not sure what the gain in elevation is in
this part of the country, but for some reason on the drive over I feel as
though we are on the top of a plateau.
The country side is rolling and looks like Ohio in many ways in that it
is farming country; corn, soybeans and dairy farms.
We
have a conversation as to why Sue, who had to cancel from the trip, booked the
hotel in Belle Plain, MN rather than closer to St. Peter which is the location
of the conference site. We know there
were no rooms available in St. Peter, but Belle Plain is a 25 miles drive from
the college campus. We worry a bit about
what the motel will be like, as it is not a major chain, but when we arrive it
turns out to be fine. The Fair Bridge
Inn is part of a larger campus that includes a restaurant, general store, and
farmers market; gives us something to look at before we call it a day.
 |
| Campus of Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN. |
Tuesday,
October 2, first day of The Nobel Conference 48th Annual Conference,
topic for the two days is Our Global
Ocean. The lineup of speakers is a
who’s who of ocean experts, chemist, geologists, ethicist, marine biologists…it
is going to be such an awesome two days.
We
quickly learn that there will be approximately 5000 attendees at this year’s
conference, which includes 1700 high school students live or via the
internet. It is interesting to know that
the conference is being broadcast live over the internet and if in the future I
am unable to attend the conference on campus, I can always view it over the
net.
 |
| Attendees gather |
And
for those of you who would rather not read this above is the link to the
archives of the Conference. You can
watch whichever segments strike your interest.
I will warn you in my comments below of those that were hard to sit
through…I mean how many chemical formulas can you watch not understanding a
thing? You can also look over the
conference topics from prior years and select those of interest to review.
The
first speaker gets a late start due to the college formalities of all the
welcomes and conferment of honorary degrees.
Actually, it was more special than that.
One of my questions for the conference was answered quickly. I was wondering what the affiliation was with
the Nobel Foundation. Turns out that
Gustavus Adolphus College is Swedish in its origins, back 150 years ago. Forty-eight years ago the then president of
the college approached the Nobel Foundation and requested permission to found a
conference in Minnesota, USA affiliated with the Nobel Foundation. The request was granted and thus began a 48
year history of top notch conferences.
And…that
honorary degree was awarded to Lars Johan Heikensten the current executive
director of the Nobel Foundation. His
comments included a brief history of the Nobel Foundation and Nobel
prizes. The story was actually quite
interesting.
 |
| The Conference begins |
So,
on to the first speaker. David Gallo, Ph.D., Director of Special
Projects, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, MA. I was really looking forward to this
guy. I had seen him on TED.com speaking
on essentially the same topic “Beyond
Titanic – What’s Left To Be Discovered In The Deep Sea?” and in just a few minutes in that format he
had captured my attention and imagination.
A full hour of him would be immensely intriguing I was sure. He immediately explains that he is not an
academic thoroughbred. His job prior to
the Woods Hole Institute was as a shoe salesman…interesting career transition!!
So
some of his presentation starts off exactly as his TED presentation; but here
he has 60 minutes instead of 10, so we learn much more. He shares with us again that 73% of the earth
is covered in Ocean. The average depth
is 2.5 miles deep. The largest mountain range
on the planet is below the ocean, 50,000 miles long!! He tells us there are under water rivers
(???!!) and under water waterfalls 5x higher than Angel Falls in Yosemite.
 |
| Dave Gallo, lead speaker |
Dave
tells us that if we don’t get our facts straight we are going to love the
planet to death…ie the dispersant that was used in the Gulf of Mexico was as
bad for the Gulf environment as the oil spill itself. He tells us that the ocean floor captures
human history and that humans are like a virus on the planet. We learn that climate change and plate tectonics
are what is changing the earth.
There
is of course much more detail, more than what I could capture in my notes. So for each speaker I am attaching the link
to their presentation at the Nobel Conference.
Tip: If you decide to watch the presentation, be
sure to watch all the way through the Q&A section, especially in this case,
the last question is the best!!
Beyond Titanic – What’s Left
To Be Discovered In The Deep Sea?
The
thrill of the conference for me was that the next day I got Dave’s
autograph. This is not something I
normally do, but I mentioned to Karen that I would love his and on Wednesday as
he passed us in a hallway Karen spoke up!!!
He was gracious, he was kind and he gave me his autograph!!!
2nd Speaker –
Maya Tolstoy Ph.D.
Our Global Ocean Floor
Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory
Columbia
University, Palisades, NY
Dr.
Tolstoy was also very interesting. She
is a marine geophysicist!! Who knew such
a thing existed. She is also a seismologist. She researches mid-ocean ridge earthquakes,
the links between earthquakes and life at hydrothermal vent systems, seafloor
instrumentation, and the impact of antropogenic noise on marine mammals.
So…what
I learned from her is that the mid-ocean ridge (that mountain chain I mentioned
in David Gallo’s piece) is where new surfaces of the earth are constantly
forming. While the oldest section of the
sea floor is over 200 million years old, it is also the most dynamic area on
the planet.
She
talked about hydrothermal vents, which oddly enough I had learned about just
recently in the reading of Bill Byson’s book “A History of Almost Everything.” As these vents were discovered it was assumed
that no life could live near them since they vent black smoke which has turned
out to be heated ocean water filled with minerals and nutrients, spewing up
from the earth’s core. But the
assumptions were wrong, there is life thriving at these vents, life that
depends on chemosynthesis vs photosynthesis.
Since
it is earthquakes that drive the hydrothermal vents she likened earthquakes to
life detection tools!
She
also noted that sea floors pulsate with the tides, earth tides vs water tides
which are constantly deforming so slightly that we can’t feel them. Again earthquakes play a major role in this
action. So while we humans dread the
idea of earthquakes and tremble in fear of them, they are in fact a life force
for our planet.
Again,
there is so much more to her talk, please enjoy it for yourself. She speaks it much better than I do.
Our Global Ocean Floor
3rd Speaker – Barbara Block,
Ph.D.
Sushi and Satellites: Tracking
Large Predators in the Blue Serengeti
Hopkins
Marine Station, Sanford University
Pacific
Grove, CA
Marine
biologist Barbara Block uses a multidisciplinary approach to study how large
pelagic fish move around – and stay warm – in the open ocean. Her team uses electronic tags to track large
predators – tuna, billfish and sharks – on their ocean journeys.
She
noted that 90% of big fish are gone in certain areas of the world. She shared with the audience several internet
sites that may be of interest to you.
Dr.
Block identified a section of the Pacific Ocean known as the Blue Serengeti which
the big fish like Blue Fin Tuna use as a migration route. Their project involves a lot of tagging of
fish and she noted that to date in their tagging project they have retrieved
22% of their tags from the Atlantic and 51% from the Pacific.
Again,
it is best to watch her presentation via the link below.
Sushi and Satellites: Tracking
Large Predators in the Blue Serengeti
 | ||
| Break time, a beautiful day....hard to go back inside! |
4th Speaker – William F.
Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
Mecury, Microbes, Mosquitoes, and More….
Marine
Sciences, University of Connecticut
Groton,
CT
Marine
bio-geochemist and chemical oceanographer William Fitzgearld has been called ‘the
father of mercury research’. His
interests are in atmospheric and marine chemistry with particular emphasis on
global bio-geochemical cycles of trace metals and the environmental impact of
metal emissions associated with human endeavors.
Just
a note here, this presentation was the most difficult to watch and understand
as Dr. Fitzgerald is a chemist and tended to speak in very scientific terms
that were beyond my comprehension.
So,
what I can share with you….
There
is a 200% increase in mercury contamination globally since the advent of the
industrial revolution. And this is
another tid bit that fits into my recent reading…again, Bill Bryson’s book on
the history of everything…that when mercury was first discovered it was
considered a savior for mankind on many fronts, most notably that it was used
as a medicine for several ailments before it was fully understood.
Methyl
mercury in particular bioaccumulates and biomagnifies which means that its
impact on life at every level is profound.
More than 60% of fish consumed comes from the coastal zone where
methylmercury is most concentrated.
Part
of his research focuses on mosquitoes as they are bioindicators…
·
They have an aquatic life stage
·
Easily collected
·
And are ubiquitous
Again,
if you are accustomed to scientific terminology his presentation will explain
much better than I.
Mecury, Microbes, Mosquitoes, and More….
 |
| An evening concert was held at the College Church at the end of the first day. |
 |
| Inside the church. |
End of first day and this blog.
posted by Sue's Ramblings @ 9:33 AM
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