4:14 p.m., April 30, 2009----Are you curious about issues that affect the marine environment? Then you're invited to join the College of Marine and Earth Studies (CMES) this summer for the annual Ocean Currents Public Lecture Series at the University of Delaware's Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, Del.

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The lectures, which are free and open to the public, take place once a month from May through August. Talks begin at 7 p.m. in Room 104 of Cannon Lab at the Lewes campus on Pilottown Road. Last year's topics ranged from the natural history of the osprey to stranded marine mammal rescues, and this year's lineup is sure to be just as enticing.

The first lecture in the series will be given on Thursday, May 7, by George Sugihara, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography mathematician and theoretical ecologist. Sugihara's talk, “Becoming More Comfortable with Chaos: Managing Risk in Fisheries and Finance,” will discuss how mistakes made in the current financial crisis are similar to the mistakes made in fisheries management.

Sugihara's research has garnered recent press in popular publications. A Scientific American article highlights a study in which he concluded that the popular fisheries management approach of harvesting only big fish leaves an unstable population of juveniles. A Seed Magazine article discusses a study in which he likens tipping points in financial systems to similar ones in ecology.

Sugihara has published a number of articles in specialty mathematical and ecological journals as well as the prestigious Science and Nature. He is a mathematical scientist who started his career in marine biology and whose work has stretched into various fields, including a several year stint as a managing director at Deutsche Bank.

The hourlong talk will be followed by light refreshments. While the lecture is free, seating is limited and reservations are suggested. For reservations, or to check dates, times, and topics of upcoming lectures, contact CMES' Peggy Conlon at [peggy@udel.edu] or call (302) 645-4279.

For more information you also can visit the CMES Web site and click on Workshop, Seminar, Lecture and Event Schedules.