LOCAL NOAA SCIENTISTS SHARE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN OCEANS AND HEALTH

The NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Hollings Marine Laboratory, in partnership with the South Carolina Aquarium, will host a seminar on Sept. 10 entitled “Hidden Threats and Exciting Opportunities in Products from the Sea.” The final installment of the “Your Ocean, Your Health” series, the seminar will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the aquarium. This series is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area and the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium.

Marine and medical scientists will discuss connections between the health of our coastal environment and human health through producing and eating healthy seafood and discovering products from the sea that benefit human health and well-being. The discussions will encompass the whole spectrum from production through commerce to consumer nutrition. Speakers include Paul Sandifer and Peter Moeller from NOAA, Craig Browdy from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, W.C. “Chip” Hood and Ryan Fiorini from the MUSC Foundation for Research Development, Rick DeVoe from the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, Megan Westmeyer from the South Carolina Aquarium and John Vena from the University of South Carolina.

The “Your Ocean, Your Health” seminar is a four-part series that began on Feb. 12, 2007 with the first seminar focusing on South Carolina tidal creeks and their connection with the health of lowcountry residents. The second seminar, held April 2, 2007, focused on tracking chemicals and pathogens in coastal waters. The third seminar held June 5, 2007, was directed at marine organism health and how marine health and genes can tell a larger story.

The Hollings Marine Laboratory is a unique partnership between NOAA, the Medical University of South Carolina, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, College of Charleston, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

In 2007 NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the 1870’s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA Ocean Service: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov

Hollings Marine Laboratory: http://www.hml.noaa.gov

Seminar information: http://www.scseagrant.org/Content/?cid=120