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UO professor lectures on marine ecosystems
Jon Erlandson discussed the importance of analyzing past cultures for help with today's problems
by Brent Henzi | Freelance reporter |
Oceans make up more than 70 percent of the world's surface and 99 percent of the habitat on this planet.
On Wednesday, University anthropology professor Jon Erlandson discussed the importance of sustaining the oceans' ecosystem before a crowd of about 20 at the Many Nations Longhouse.
The presentation, titled "Fishing the Past to Feed the Future: Archaeology, Historical Ecology, and Restoration of Marine Ecosystems," was part of the series of lectures called "Fireside Conversations on Global Warming" presented by the University's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program and Environmental Studies program.
This particular lecture concentrated on maintaining marine ecosystems by analyzing past cultures.
"Archaeology and history are very important," Erlandson said after the speech. "They can teach us many things because people have had to deal with the same problems that we deal with today."
The idea behind the "Fireside Conversations" is to bring a broader sense to the global warming problem that society faces today, bringing in University professors of many backgrounds.
"I enjoyed this speech a lot, as it was different than the other that I have attended," said University student Daniel Soulé. "It was interesting to see a speech that you don't often hear in the mainstream media."
Drawing from some of his own experiments and case studies, Erlandson said people can look at the way past cultures dealt with preservation problems in examining how people today try to combat global warming and depletion of resources.
"Oceans were once thought to be inexhaustible," Erlandson said. "This is obviously not true. Most of the world's populations lives in coastal zones and have exploited them incessantly, using them as a dumping ground for garbage."
During the hour-long speech, Erlandson pointed out that many anthropologists suggest that oceans have been used as a resource for only around 10,000 years, but this is not the case, he said.
On Wednesday, University anthropology professor Jon Erlandson discussed the importance of sustaining the oceans' ecosystem before a crowd of about 20 at the Many Nations Longhouse.
The presentation, titled "Fishing the Past to Feed the Future: Archaeology, Historical Ecology, and Restoration of Marine Ecosystems," was part of the series of lectures called "Fireside Conversations on Global Warming" presented by the University's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program and Environmental Studies program.
This particular lecture concentrated on maintaining marine ecosystems by analyzing past cultures.
"Archaeology and history are very important," Erlandson said after the speech. "They can teach us many things because people have had to deal with the same problems that we deal with today."
The idea behind the "Fireside Conversations" is to bring a broader sense to the global warming problem that society faces today, bringing in University professors of many backgrounds.
"I enjoyed this speech a lot, as it was different than the other that I have attended," said University student Daniel Soulé. "It was interesting to see a speech that you don't often hear in the mainstream media."
Drawing from some of his own experiments and case studies, Erlandson said people can look at the way past cultures dealt with preservation problems in examining how people today try to combat global warming and depletion of resources.
"Oceans were once thought to be inexhaustible," Erlandson said. "This is obviously not true. Most of the world's populations lives in coastal zones and have exploited them incessantly, using them as a dumping ground for garbage."
During the hour-long speech, Erlandson pointed out that many anthropologists suggest that oceans have been used as a resource for only around 10,000 years, but this is not the case, he said.
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