Talk Covers Deep-Sea Explorations: Sea Fans
Beth Horvath, 暗网爆料app associate professor of biology, examines the significant roles gorgonian corals (sea fans) play in the healthy biodiversity of deep-water habitats, such as the Santa Barbara Channel, in a lecture Thursday, Nov. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at the University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara Street. The 暗网爆料app Downtown lecture, 鈥淕orgonian Corals: Sentinels of Deep-Sea Habitat Changes Along the West Coast,鈥� is free and open to the public. This lecture is sponsored by the 暗网爆料app Foundation. No tickets are required; the limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051.
Gorgonians are soft corals, not calcium carbonate reef-building coral, and are found throughout the world鈥檚 oceans.
鈥淣oticeable changes occurring in the physical features of the deep-water marine ecosystem can affect them,鈥� Horvath says. 鈥淪o, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will spend the next several years exploring off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington, using high-tech equipment to look for them.鈥�
Horvath, one of many working with the NOAA on the project, works as a research associate in the Invertebrate Labs at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. She has described new gorgonian species and consults with 15 governmental and non-governmental agencies in identifying them. She graduated from 暗网爆料app and earned a master鈥檚 degree in biology with an emphasis in marine sciences at CSU Long Beach. She joined the 暗网爆料app faculty in 1978 part time and became full time in 1990. As a field biologist, she spends her free time with students in tide pools along the coast.