The Ocean Science Lecture Series is a free series that provides a forum for the community to learn about the important research at the FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and around the world. The first presenter was executive director James Sullivan, who welcomed everyone on Jan. 14.
The Ocean Science Lecture Series will be held at FAU’s Harbor Branch Johnson Marine Education Center Auditorium or will be available as recorded lectures. It is free to the public and gives a platform for the community to learn about the discoveries at FAU’s Harbor Branch and around the world.
“This year’s Ocean Science Lecture Series will showcase the breadth of marine science research underway at Florida Atlantic,” said James Sullivan in an article from the FAU news desk.
The series will be held at FAU Harbor Branch’s Johnson Marine Education Center Auditorium and will feature 12 presenters from Jan. 14 to March 25, including Jordan Beckler, Stephanie Schreiber, and guest lecturer Jeanette Wyneken.
The OSLS aims to highlight discoveries in ocean science. However, its importance to the community cannot be understated. Most people never hear directly from oceanographers, engineers, or marine biologists. James Sullivan emphasized this when discussing the OSLS.
“Each lecture offers new perspectives, new tools, and new ways of thinking about shared challenges, and for me, the series is as much about listening and learning as it is about presenting,” Sullivan wrote in an email to the University Press. “By kicking off the 2026 season focusing on The Office of Ocean Economy, we can show the public the direct connection between strong ocean science and our economy.”
Jordan Beckler, who will present the lecture “Into the Blue: Exploring Ocean Submarine Springs Offshore of West Florida” on Jan. 28, is excited to showcase some of FAU’s outstanding research and offer advice on how students can begin pursuing similar endeavors.
“I think it’s all about noticing problems with the world around you and coming up with creative solutions,” Beckler wrote in an email to the University Press.
Beckler, an expert in geochemistry, hopes that students who attend the lecture leave with one thought in mind: chemistry can be super cool.
The guest speaker from the Boca Raton campus, Jeanette Wyneken, a research expert in Florida’s sea turtles, will lead the lecture “Florida’s Sea Turtles and our Changing Climate,” and will lecture for the first time in about a decade for the OSLS.
Wyneken shares that she joined the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, which focuses on biology in Portland across vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants. She will share her experiences from the conference, as well as much more, in her lecture.
When discussing the importance of her research, Wyenken provided a straightforward answer.
“It shows what a robust study design can show, and it has provided opportunities for students,” Wyneken wrote in an email to the University Press.
A recent graduate of Harbor Branch, Stephanie Schreiber, who is excited about the opportunity to lecture, will present on March 18 alongside another graduate, Olivia Ruchti, on “Cell Imaging to Reveal the Hidden World of Plankton.”
Schreiber hopes that students will walk away from the lecture with an appreciation for the phytoplankton world that they can’t see without the aid of technology.
“A lot of people do not understand the importance of phytoplankton,” Schrieber wrote in an email to the University Press. “Phytoplankton produce more than 50% of the oxygen that we breathe on Earth.”
Ruchti, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Physics, says her experience in that field helped her transition into oceanography.
“Biology is never just biology,” Ruchti wrote in an email to the University Press. “Understanding how the ocean moves is essential for understanding how plankton behave, so my physics training helps me bridge those disciplines.
The OSLS lectures are held every Wednesday at 4 p.m. through March 25 and are available in person and virtually, followed by a meet-and-greet with the speaker. Presentations will also be livestreamed and recorded for future reference.
Anthony Ortiz is the Reporter for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email Ortiz at [email protected].