Tuesday, September 01, 2009

CIEE (Bonaire) Hosts Dale Stokes from Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Coming right on the heels of Dr. Sylvia Earle’s visit, Dale Stokes from the noted Scripps Institution of Oceanography will be speaking at the CIEE headquarters on Thursday evening, September 3, 2009 at 7:00 PM.

All are invited (entrance is free) to listen to Dr. Stokes as he speaks on “Adventures in Oceanography.” a photographic journey to science projects under and on top of the water around the globe. He will take us on ships, submarines, underwater habitats, from the North Pole to the South Pole. This presentation showcases a decade of images collected in exotic locations using a wide variety of unusual vessels and instrumentation. We’ll travel from working beneath the ice in the Antarctic, to submarines and diving in the tropics, to working with NASA in the high arctic, with many stops in between.

Dale Stokes is a research oceanographer in the Marine Physical Laboratory at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His photographs have appeared in publications around the world including National Geographic, Ocean Realm, BBC Wildlife, Skin Diver, National Wildlife, Outside Magazine, Ranger Rick, and Natural History magazines among many others. He has worked on several documentary film projects as scientific adviser and cameraman, including BBC’s Blue Planet, the PBS Nature “Under Antarctic Ice,” and most recently the 3D IMAX film, “Wild Ocean.” Another IMAX film on the threatened nature of coral reefs will premier in 2010.

Dr. Stokes has a diverse background in biology and physics and works on projects as varied as polar ecology and air-sea gas transport. His work on bubble formation by breaking waves and his co-discovery of a previously unknown photosynthetic community beneath the ground in polar deserts were both recently reported in Nature. His field experiences include dozens of ship and land-based research projects around the world including three seasons in the Arctic and four in the Antarctic.

Dr. Stokes received degrees in Biology and Geology from Queen’s University in Canada and received a PhD in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, emphasizing work on marine larval biophysics. He did two years of post-doctoral work at Stanford University, before returning to the Marine Physical Laboratory at SIO.

The CIEE headquarters are located at Kaya Gobernador N. Debrot #21. (Source:  CIEE Bonaire)