Free public lecture on Pacific Ocean ecosystem

The Rosenberg Institute at the Romberg Tiburon Center has expanded a popular seminar series that helps the public better understand the science of the world's oceans. On Wednesday, Sept. 11, the Institute will host a Stanford University professor whose research involves the complex ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean.

Barbara Block, professor of biology at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, will discuss her efforts to monitor and protect the "Blue Serengeti," the marine ecosystem off Northern America's western coasts.

The seminar, which begins at 3:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. Block's hour-long lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

The Seminar Series is funded by a $1 million donation from Barbara and Richard Rosenberg that created the Rosenberg Institute for Marine Biology and Environmental Science. The Institute will help the Romberg Tiburon Center bring information about marine life and critical ocean research to the local Tiburon community. In addition to the seminar series, the Institute will also sponsor two major public forums on marine biology and related disciplines annually, with the inaugural forum taking place in Spring 2014.

For a full list of speakers, visit http://rtc.sfsu.edu/seminar/index.htm.