Distinguished Speaker Series: Emily Martin
April 8 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The Ocean Institute’s Distinguished Speaker Series, presented by the Nicholas Endowment, brings interesting innovations, real-world research, exotic experiences, and delightful discoveries to the surface through powerful presentations from an ocean of experts. Speakers present on a variety of topics ranging from ocean researchers, ocean authors, ocean artists, and ocean athletes.
Light snacks & Refreshments available for purchase at event.
Distinguished Speaker: Emily Martin
Description:
Some of the most important life in a lake is nearly invisible. Zooplankton are small animals that drift through the water, sustaining a foundation of mountain lake food webs. Even though they are small, they serve critical functions, such as eating algae and being eaten by fish.
In this talk, Emily will introduce zooplankton and explain why they matter. She will share how the introduction of sport fish has changed zooplankton communities in Sierra Nevada lakes that were once fishless. She will also discuss how environmental conditions influence which species can survive in these sensitive mountain lakes.
In addition, Emily will share what it means to be a mountain lake ecologist. She will describe a “day in the life” of conducting alpine fieldwork, including backpacking into remote wilderness areas to collect samples, performing research in rugged mountain environments, and using the tools and equipment of the trade, from plankton nets and water samplers to data loggers. By looking closely at small organisms, we can gain a clearer picture of the big environmental changes happening in our beloved mountain lakes and what those changes might mean for the future of these freshwater ecosystems.
Wednesday, April 8
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Doors open at 5:30pm, talk begins at 6:00pm
$10 – General
FREE – Members
FREE – Students (with Valid ID)
About Emily:
Emily Martin (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in the Symons Lab at the University of California, Irvine. She studies mountain lakes in the Sierra Nevada and is interested in how environmental change affects the food webs within them. Her research focuses on how introduced fish and the environment are reshaping lake communities. By combining fieldwork in beautiful high-elevation lakes with experiments in the lab, she works to better understand how biodiversity supports lake functioning. She is passionate about making science accessible, creative, and engaging for everyone.
