Event: Discovering Our Humanity at the Bottom of the Sea

Join "Ocean Doctor" David E. Guggenheim in Philadelphia on Friday, March 26, 2010

At Philadelphia’s historic Congregation Rodeph Shalom synagogue, the Dr. Bernard & Rose Susan Hirschhorn Behrend Lecture presents Dr. David E. Guggenheim, president of 1planet1ocean, a project of The Ocean Foundation. Dr. Guggenheim, the “Ocean Doctor,” an ocean explorer, sub pilot and conservationist,will share his firsthand experiences from Alaska’s Bering Sea to Cuba’s tropical depths, providing a glimpse into a world seldom seen and reflections on our own humanity from the unique perspective beneath the sea.

Philadelphia native, Dr. David E. Guggenheim is a marine scientist, conservation policy specialist, submarine pilot and ocean explorer. He is president of 1planet1ocean in Washington, DC, a project of The Ocean Foundation where he is a Senior Fellow and director of its Cuba Marine Research and Conservation Program. He is currently leading a major project to elevate collaboration in marine science and conservation among Cuba, Mexico and the U.S. to a new level and leading the first-ever comprehensive research and conservation program in Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico region, a joint effort with the University of Havana.

Philadelphia native, Dr. David E. Guggenheim, the "Ocean Doctor"

Also known as the “Ocean Doctor” and host of the ExpeditionCasts podcast series, Dr. Guggenheim is currently engaged in a special “expedition” to all fifty U.S. states visiting schools and bringing special programs about ocean exploration and conservation to young students. So far he has traveled more than 35,000 miles, visited 13 states, made 39 speeches and reached more than 10,000 students in schools ranging from the northernmost community in North America, Barrow, Alaska, to Macksville, Kansas, close to the geographic center of the lower 48 states, to the southern tip of Florida.

In 2007 he served as a scientific advisor to Greenpeace for its expedition to map deepwater corals in the Bering Sea where he piloted the first-ever manned submersible dives into the Bering Sea’s largest underwater canyons. Guggenheim played a lead role in building the recently-formed Gulf of Mexico Alliance, a partnership among the U.S. Gulf states and 13 federal agencies and Mexico. Guggenheim is also working to introduce cutting-edge technologies for sustainable aquaculture practices to the Americas to reduce pressure on overfished wild fish stocks.

Guggenheim previously served as Vice President at The Ocean Conservancy, President & CEO of The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, co-chair of the Everglades Coalition and president of the Friends of Channel Islands National Park. Guggenheim holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University in Virginia, a Master’s in Aquatic and Population Biology from University of California, Santa  Barbara, and a Master’s in Regional Science and Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Congregation Rodeph Shalom

Rodeph Shalom is located at 615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Guggenheim’s lecture is included in the Friday evening service which begins at 8pm, March 26, 2010. Admission is free to all.

Subscribe to the 1planet1ocean RSS feed.