NOAA's Undersea Research Program - NURP
This story entered on 25th Feb, 2003 01:15:48 PM PST

On March 14, 2003, the House Oceans Caucus (HOC) will hold a luncheon meeting focused on issues related to deep-sea corals, including their function as essential habitat for invertebrate and fish species.

The HOC Luncheon Agenda has a very exciting line-up of scientists. In addition to those who will cover U.S. deep-sea corals, speakers from Ireland and Canada will cover what their countries are doing to respond to threats to deep-sea corals.

The Agenda will begin with opening speeches by:

Timothy Keeney, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, NOAA; and
Dave Evans, Undersecretary for Science, Smithsonian Institution.

Followed by talks from:

Peter Auster, NURP, University of Connecticut;
Stephen Cairns, Smithsonian Institution;
Anthony Grehan, Chair of the Irish Coral Reef Task Force, National Univ. of Ireland;
Ken Sulak, U.S. Geological Survey; and
Michael Risk, McMaster University, Canada.

****The interest in deep-sea corals as the focus for the HOC Luncheon was sparked by the recent International Deep-Sea Corals Workshop held on January 16 and 17, 2003 in Galway, Ireland as part of an on-going collaboration between NOAA and the Irish Marine Institute. This workshop was successfully organized by both NOAA Fisheries (Office of Science and Technology) and NOAA Research (NOAA's Undersea Research Program and Office of Ocean Exploration).****

Contact information
Name: Kimberly Puglise
kimberly.puglise@noaa.gov