The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation debuted its Blue Beacon Series this month. The Blue Beacon Series aims to bring to light the ocean and Great Lakes’ biggest challenges through panels, lectures, and film screenings hosted around the country in order to build communities of support for marine protected areas. This series builds on the momentum of Capitol Hill Ocean Week, the nation’s premier conference on ocean and Great Lakes policy issues by bringing these important conversations into locally relevant contexts.

The Blue Beacon Series debuted on Tuesday, December 11 in partnership with Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium. The Foundation’s President and CEO, Kris Sarri, moderated a panel titled “The Future of Marine Protected Areas in a Changing Climate.” The panel featured Dr. Peter Auster, Senior Research Scientist, Mystic Aquarium and Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut; Dr. Tracey Dalton, Professor of Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island; and Dr. Dave Wiley, Research Coordinator, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. 

Photo courtesy of Cheryl Miller/Mystic Aquarium

The next Blue Beacon Series events will take place in Baltimore, Maryland, and Detroit, Michigan in 2019.