Forum on the BP Oil Disaster with Terry Hazen and James McClain

Terry Hazen, Ph.D., is Head of the Ecology Department, Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Microbial Communities Department of the Joint BioEnergy Institute, co-director of the Virtual Institute for Microbial Stress and Survival and the Microbial Enhanced Hydrocarbon Recovery Program of the Energy Biosciences Institute at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and has authored more than 210 scientific publications.  Dr. Hazen will discuss when it's best to resort to engineered bioremediation of contaminated sites, and when it's best to rely on natural attenuation. Implications for the Gulf Coast will be considered.

James McClain, Ph.D. is a Professor of Geophysics and Oceanography in the Department of Geology at the University of California in Davis. He has a Ph.D. in Geophysics and Oceanography and did his post-doc at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. McClain is a seismologist whose primary research interest is the ocean crust. To conduct this research, he places remote-controlled instruments on the sea floor and then analyzes the faint signals they pick up from distant earthquakes and explosions. He has studied mid-ocean ridges, and his deep-sea work has included geophysical surveys to the bottom of the ocean and the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). Dr. McClain and his colleagues have examined the volcanic and hydrothermal processes occurring as the seafloor spreads.

More speakers may be added to the panel before June 23.

Suggested donation:  $12 General, $10 Members, $5 Students

(No one turned away for lack of funds)

Wheel chair accessible