Discover Smithsonian science in your backyard at SERC's evening lecture series! SERC evening lectures are held the third Tuesday of every month at 7pm, March through November, unless otherwise noted. Lectures are free and open to all: A curious mind is all you need to bring.

October Talk:
Accelerated sea level rise is affecting many coastal habitats and communities, but especially tidal wetlands that protect us from storms and flooding. In this talk, biologist Keryn Gedan will highlight how sea level influences low-lying tidal marshes, and show how various types of tidal marshes can resist or adapt to sea level rise by accretion (accumulating sediment so they can rise vertically) and marsh migration (the expansion of marshes into habitats upslope). She will also describe her work in Chesapeake Bay, examining the effects of sea level rise on the ecology and distribution of brackish marshes, and investigating the formation of new wetland communities in abandoned agricultural fields.

(Photo: Kathryn Norman/George Washington University)