Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
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Scientists and Society at a Crossroads: Seabed Mining in the Deep Sea
Speaker
Professor Lisa Levin
Coordinator
Jim Brown
Vast tracts of seafloor in the open ocean are being leased for exploration of bountiful mineral resources by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea. The ISA is charged with protection of the marine environment; however, environmental regulation is a challenge because the ecosystems being targeted are remote and poorly studied. The growing demand for deep-sea metals leads to ethical and societal challenges of exploitation in a relatively unknown realm. This lecture explores these sensitive competing issues.
Speaker Bio
Presenter: Lisa Levin is a distinguished professor of biological oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She co-leads the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative, which seeks to integrate science, technology, policy, law and economics to advise on ecosystem-based management of resource use in the deep ocean. She received her PhD from UC San Diego.
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