Ocean biologist to present Science & Society Lecture Nov. 13

The Lewes Public Library’s Science and Society lecture series will welcome Sönke Johnsen, professor of biology at Duke University, at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 13, for an online Zoom presentation titled “Into the Great Wide Ocean,” based on his new book of the same name.

Johnsen will guide participants on a tour of the open ocean, home to many otherworldly creatures, from giant squid to transparent swimming snails. He will explain how animals handle the challenges presented by their environment, such as pressure in the ocean depths, lack of light, scarcity of food and predation. Along the way, Johnsen will weave in personal stories from the field, providing snapshots of what it's like to be a marine biologist and spend large portions of time on ships in the middle of the ocean, where even the best-laid plans are at the mercy of an unruly sea.

To register for the online event, visit tinyurl.com/LPLScienceFall24 or call the library at 302-645-2733. 

Johnsen is a marine biologist and visual ecologist, and the author of four books. Originally trained in mathematics and art, he has studied camouflage, signaling and non-human visual abilities for the last 34 years, with particular interest in vision and camouflage in the open ocean. He primarily works on open-ocean research cruises using scuba and deep-sea submersibles.

The Lewes Public Library’s Science and Society - Making Sense of the World Around Us lecture series is co-organized and moderated by Colin Norman, former news editor at Science; Fred Dylla, executive director emeritus of the American Institute of Physics and author of “Scientific Journeys”; and Lynda Dylla, former public information officer at the Jefferson Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy.

For more information, visit lewes.lib.de.us.