Kelp forests are moving underwater jungles of emerald green seaweed! They are among the most productive ecosystems on our planet, they are home to an incredible biodiversity of life, and they are important to coastal communities. But kelp forests can also change rapidly as a result of different drivers and pressures. One major driver of change in the kelp forests of BC and Alaska has been the extirpation of sea otters as a result of the Pacific Fur Trade, and their more recent reintroduction and recovery along the coast. Join Jenn Burt, a marine ecologist at Simon Fraser University, to share in the scientific journey that explores the magical underwater world of kelp, sea urchins, sea stars and fish, and also hear some of the stories shared by coastal Indigenous people through a unique collaborative project that explores their relationship to sea otters and their experience of the rapid changes that sea otters bring to their coastal territories.
Jenn Burt is studying kelp forest ecology and marine planning in British Columbia. Her research focuses on the ecological and social transitions that are occurring as sea otters return to high latitude temperate reef ecosystems. Her fieldwork takes place in the amazing rocky reefs of the beautiful Central Coast of BC based out of the Hakai Institute on Calvert Island. She works closely with several First Nations communities, managers and individuals who have helped inform her research questions, helped collect field data, provided invaluable traditional knowledge, and who are close collaborators.
Included with museum admission or membership.