February 22, 2007

UCSB Marine Biologist to Present Talk at Opening Ceremony for the International Polar Year

Gail Gallessich

Gretchen Hofmann, an associate professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been invited to speak at the U.S. Opening Ceremony for the International Polar Year, 2007-2008, in Washington, D.C., Monday, Feb. 26, at 10:00 a.m. Hofmann investigates the effects of environmental stress, such as ocean warming and acidification, on marine animals. She has led several field expeditions to Antarctica.

The event will be held at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) auditorium, 2100 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. It is sponsored by the NAS and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The ceremony will be webcast live.

In addition to Hofmann, the event will include remarks from four other polar scientists about the nature and scope of U.S. International Polar Year (IPY) research, as well as remarks from government officials whose agencies play an active role in IPY.

Confirmed participants include Arden L. Bement, Jr., NSF director; Ralph Cicerone, NAS president; James Connaughton, chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality; Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator; Mark Myers, director, U.S. Geological Survey; and Mead Treadwell, U.S. Arctic Research Commission chair.

The International Polar Year is an intense, coordinated campaign of polar observations, research, and analysis that is multidisciplinary in scope and international in participation. It will include biological, ecological, and social science elements.

Information about the event is available through NAS at http://us-ipy.org/.

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.