Technology to Help Us Save Our Oceans Free Lecture

Shah Selbe, an engineer and conservation technologist, National
Geographic Emerging Explorer and New England Aquarium Marine Conservation
Action Grant grantee, will host this free lecture. We have seen great strides
in establishing marine reserves to allow the health of our oceans to rebound. But,
these reserves risk being ineffective without smarter ways to protect them. The
methods currently used tend to be expensive and rely almost entirely on the use
of military resources (which tends to put it at a low priority.) Selbe works in
identifying innovative approaches and technologies that can help. This includes
the development of hardware (low-cost conservation drones, acoustic sensors, etc.)
and data management solutions (smartphone apps, online databases, satellite
imagery, etc.) He created MPA Guardian, a website and smartphone app to allow
crowd-sourced protection of California’s marine protected area network. He is
now working through a grant from National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions to create low-cost drones to monitor Marine Protected Areas.