Newsroom

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Marine biologist Boris Worm, from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, will give a free public lecture this Friday, April 11, at Oregon State University beginning at 4 p.m. in Gilfillan Auditorium.

His talk, “Ecosystem Consequences of Fishing Large Marine Predators,” is free and open to the public.

In his talk, he will discuss conservation concerns that arise from declining numbers of large predators, including some tuna and billfishes, sharks and turtles. The decline, and potential extinction of such species, can trigger cascading effects on the ecosystem, he says.

Worm is an expert on ocean biodiversity and the effects of fishing on the marine ecosystem. He has documented the effect of over-fishing at both the local and global scales, and is studying the consequences of changes in marine biodiversity.

Among his research projects is an effort to document large-scale patterns of species diversity in the open ocean. He also is working to document species’ response to habitat change and fishing over the last 50 years.