MediaPress Release

Jan 11, 2007

Join SERC, the Smithsonian in your own back yard, every month for free lectures and discussion sessions with the nation's leading researchers and explorers. Learn about a diverse range of topics from global warming to Chesapeake Bay Oystermen to monogamy among primates.

Light Refreshments begin at 6:30 p.m. and lectures Begin at 7:00 p.m. A question and answer period follows. Meet at the Schmidt Conference Center on the SERC campus, just two miles from the corner of Muddy Creek Road and Route 214 in Edgewater.

February 21
Dr. Donald Anderson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
“The Expanding Problem of Red Tides and Harmful Algal Blooms: Impacts, Trends, and Linkages to Eutrophication.”

March 21
Mr. David Harp, photographer
“Lights on the Chesapeake” Crabbing and Oystering Communities on the Bay Photographic Slide Show

April 18
Dr. Bert Drake, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
“An Inconvenient Truth: Public Forum and Discussion”
Movie Showing 5:00 p.m.

May 9
Dr. James M. Dietz, University of Maryland, College Park
“Why Primate Families Aren't Always Monogamous"

June 13
Dr. James Zimbelman, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
“Mars Exploration Rovers: Geology on the Move”

July (date to come)
Dr. Donald E. Moore, National Zoo
Tentative Topic: Polar bears in captivity and the wild

August (date to come)
Dr. Joe Roman, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Tentative Topic: Multicultural perspectives on the relationship between man and whales

September 19
Dr. Gabrielle Tayac, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
“Lessons from Native Ancestors: Enduring Relationships with a Changing Landscape”

October 17
Dr. Karin Kettering and Dr. Dennis Whigham, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
“Phragmites Invasion into Salt Marsh Wetlands”

November (date to come)
Dr. Ken Staver, University of Maryland, Wye Research and Education Center
Tentative Topic: Switchgrass and potential for saving fuel and the environment

Members of the public interested in more information can visit our website at: www.serc.si.edu or call Karen McDonald at 443-482-2300

Media Contact

<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" align="left"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top">Karen McDonald</td><td style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top">301-238-2737</td><td style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top"><a href="mailto:mcdonaldk@si.edu">mcdonaldk@si.edu</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p>&nbsp;</p>