Mote presents annual lecture series

For those looking to learn more about life under water, Mote Marine Laboratory has a solution.

Starting tonight, March 4, Mote is hosting its annual Special Lecture Series that will feature four program managers discussing their area of expertise.

The four lectures will be held on Monday nights in March. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for a cocktail hour with a cash bar and the lectures will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to each lecture are $15 for non-Mote members and $10 for Mote members and volunteers, teachers and students.

Mote recommends purchasing tickets in advance as seats can sell out. For the lectures that do not sell out, a limited number of tickets will be sold at the door. Ticket sales close at 3 p.m. the day of the lecture or when tickets are sold out.

The lectures are scheduled as follows:

• March 4 – Erin Muller, program manager for Mote’s Coral Health and Disease Research Program will present “Coral restoration: A beacon of hope to save the Florida Reef Tract.”
• March 11 – Postdoctoral research fellow Rob Nowicki will present “Building a better mousetrap: Hijacking shark biology and behavior to reduce bycatch in Caribbean lobster traps.”
• March 18 – Mote’s Ecotoxicology Program Manager Richard Pierce will talk on “Red tide: What is it and what can we do about it?”
• March 25 – Gretchen Lovewell, the program manager for Mote’s Stranding Investigation Program will close out the series with “Red tide’s toll on marine animals: Stories from Mote’s Stranding Investigation Program.”

With questions, call 388-4441 or visit mote.org/education.