National Science and Engineering Week 2011

1. National Science and Engineering Week 2011 As part of National Science and Engineering Week, leading Plymouth scientists have teamed up with the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery to bring you a series of early evening lectures about Change. The lectures will be held in the Plymouth Lecture Theatre, Portland Square, University of Plymouth on the Wednesday 16th March. Attendance is FREE and open to all. 17.00 – 17.20 Powerful PlanktonBy Clare Buckland, SAHFOS Through their production, plankton sustain almost all other marine organisms and determine through their abundance the level to which ecosystems can maintain fish stocks. Plankton are excellent indicators of change and play a fundamental role in reducing global CO2 levels. 17.25 – 17.45 The strange and curious world of the insectBy Peter Smithers, University of Plymouth The lives of insects can be strange and curious, step into another world and discover the surreal, comic and stunning beautiful lives of the strangest creatures on the planet. 17.50 – 18.10 Ice Age PlymouthBy Jan Freedman, Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery Woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and hyenas all roamed Plymouth thousands of years ago. Discover how different Plymouth was during the warm and cold phases of the Pleistocene Epoch looking at the evidence from two important cave sites. 18.15 – 18.35 Ocean acidification: the other CO2 problem By Francis Hopkins, Plymouth Marine Laboratory The worlds oceans absorb about a quarter of the CO2 pollution produced by humans every year. Rising emissions are causing the chemistry of the oceans to change: seawater is becoming more acidic. It is likely that marine life will be affected by this increasing acidity. Here we explore theses changes.