First Annual OVAS Earth Day Event - CANCELED

[Fishnut]

On April 22nd 2012 at 2:00pm, OVAS will be holding it's first Earth Day Event!

Speakers:

Ret Talbot

Ret writes extensively for and about the marine aquarium industry, which he believes can and should play a leading role in tropical reef conservation. He is the co-author of the forthcoming The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Saltwater Aquarium (December 2008), and he writes a regular column called "Ret Talbot Live! Marine Crossroads: Where Science, Ecology & Hobby Meet" for Microcosm Aquarium Explorer, a website showcasing the work an international team of leading aquarium authors, marine biologists, underwater photographers, and tropical naturalists. Ret is a regular contributor to Tropical Fish Hobbyist, and he is also the feature writer for Marine Fish at Suite101.com, where he has written well over 100 online articles about marine aquarium fish, tropical reef conservation, and marine science. He writes the SaltwaterSense blog at Saltwaterfish.com and, most recently, was invited to write a blog at The Reef Tank dealing with the hobby and the industry behind the hobby.

Here is what he will be talking to us about:

"It seems like my talk regarding sustainability and marine aquarium fisheries may be most appropriate. This is a story I have been researching for CORAL Magazine for the past two years, and my presentation is constantly changing as the story changes. The presentation in Michigan this weekend will be skewed toward Hawai'i, as that is where my last trip took me to research the passage of a resolution seeking to ban the trade statewide. My talk also covers emerging and established marine aquarium fisheries across the Pacific in places like Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, etc. People generally enjoy the slides from my travels researching the trade, diving with local fisherman and understanding the socio-economic impacts of the marine aquarium hobby on developing island nations. Beyond the slides, I share the science and backstory so that people can begin to "think big picture" about the hobby and what we really mean when we say we are committed to sustainability. By the end of the talk, everyone in the audience should have some hands-on practical tools for how they can use their purchasing power to support a sustainable and robust marine aquarium trade."

Alanna Mitchell (Key note speaker)

Alanna Mitchell is a Canadian author and journalist who writes about global science issues. She specializes in investigating changes to the earth's life-support systems and travels the world in search of scientists at the centre of what's going on.

Her first book, Dancing at the Dead Sea: Tracking the World's Environmental Hotspots, came out in 2004 in Canada and in 2005 in the rest of the English-speaking world, to international praise.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Reuters Foundation named Mitchell the best environmental journalist in the world in 2000 after an international competition. The prize was a fellowship at Oxford University, which Mitchell took up in the Hilary term of 2002, studying with the eminent ecologist Norman Myers.

Her second book, Sea Sick: The Hidden Crisis in the Global Ocean, has been published in the US and the UK and has become an international best seller. It was first published to great acclaim in Australia by Murdoch Books in September 2008. Sea Sick was published in Canada in March 2009 by McClelland & Stewart, with a paperback version available in March 2010.

Now or Never by Tim FlanneryAlanna has an essay in Tim Flannery's book Now or Never, published in Canada by Harper Collins. Now or Never discusses in detail three potential solutions to climate change, the most urgent of the challenges we face in our pursuit of sustainability.

Here is what she will be talking to us about:

"The talk that I think would fit the best is an inspirational hour-long one about the health of the global ocean and how we're affecting it. I usually touch on ocean acidification, low-oxygen zones (dead zones) and the rise in temperature as the evil troika of ocean change. I tell stories of how I trailed around after marine scientists for two and half years to track their research on this stuff. Then I talk about the final tale of going to the bottom of the ocean in a submersible (3,000 feet) where I had an epiphany about hope."

Location:

Ben Franklin Place
101 Centrepointe Dr.
Chamber Room

Tickets:

$5 for Members
$10 for Non-Members

Tickets can be purchased by contacting me (Sylvia Robbins).  Details will follow as soon as we get the Paypal account set up to take care of this.

Fundraiser:

This event is HUGE and it has come with a big budget.  In order to keep ticket prices at a minimum, we are also selling advertising space in our event program.  If you are interested in purchasing advertising space or know someone who is, please contact me for details.

[Fishnut]

Due to an EXTREMELY low interest in the event, I have decided to cancel it.  This event was going to cost slightly over $4000 and we have sold a handful of tickets.  With only 1 month left until the event, this is, unfortunately, the only solution I could come up with.

Both speakers have been contacted.  Hopefully Alanna Mitchell will be OK with us canceling her talk outright.  We are committed to Ret Talbott, so I have asked him if he is available to join us for our regular meeting time and place, the following day.

I'll keep everyone posted on April's meeting.