Please join us for our 30th season. This annual lecture series spans the breadth of human interactions with coastal waters, including speakers from the natural and social sciences as well as arts and humanities.
Lecture series is FREE and open to the public.
Lectures begin at 7:30 p.m.
A link to the online lecture is included below. Or join us in-person!
This series is sponsored by Connecticut Sea Grant College Program, Ørsted, UConn Department of Marine Sciences, UConn Maritime Studies Program and the UConn Avery Point Campus Director’s Office.
For more information or to be added to our email list, send an email to CoastalPerspectives@uconn.edu.
Want to Join us at the Live Event, In-Person?
The event is hosted in the Avery Point Auditorium (AUD): Directions | Campus Map.pdf.
Parking is free after 5 p.m.; closest lots are near the library (LIB) or in Lot B.
Enter from the Academic Building main entrance, the auditorium is on the second floor at the end of the hall (mobility-disabled accessible); or enter through or near the Student Center and go up two flights of stairs. Campus Map.pdf
Want to Join the Online Lecture?
All lectures will be offered in-person; most lectures will be available online, but please check below to confirm.
Click to sign on: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/uconn-cmr/j.php?MTID=mabb3f11cd46679bbf47eb3e030a57295
- Meeting number (access code): 2632 980 9195
- Event password: coastal
- Join the audio conference only:
- +1-415-655-0002 US Toll
- Use meeting number (access code) shown above.
Guidance on using Webex (our online platform). JPG.jpg PDF.pdf
Trouble-shooting Tips
- The best online experience is achieved by downloading the app (versus using the online browser option).
- Having trouble logging in? Try using a different web browser – Chrome or Firefox are recommended by Webex.
- Having audio issues? Watch the presentation on your computer and use a phone to call-in for the audio.
- Can’t hear? Confirm that the speakers on your computer are unmuted (speaker icon should not have an “x” over it).
- When you sign on, you will be muted and video will be disabled – you will not be able to turn them on. If you have a question, you may type in the Chat box or you can request to be unmuted in the Chat box – we’d love to hear your voice, so please feel free to make this request! (You may also turn on your video during the Q&A period, upon request.)
2026 Lecture Highlights
Tuesday, February 10, 2026; 7:30 p.m.
Vincent Pieribone, Ph.D., Co-CEO and Chief Science Officer, OceanX; Adjunct Senior Research Scientist, Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University Climate School; Adjunct Research Scientist, Southern Connecticut State University
The Creation of OceanX – an Oceanographic and Marine Science Research Institution
Dr. Vincent Pieribone will present the genesis and function of the organization OceanX and its research vessel the OceanXplorer. He will discuss the scientific program and opportunities for collaboration and participation in research expeditions. He will also describe some recent findings from the science program.
click here for more information
View the recorded lecture (this lecture might not be recorded)
Tuesday, February 24, 2026; 7:30 p.m.
Liang Wu, Ph.D., Department of Science & Technology Studies, Einaudi Center for International Studies, Southeast Asia Program, and Cornell Oceans, Cornell University
Opening the Black Box of Container Shipping: Technology, Environment, and Society of Global Sea Trade
What is the story behind the modern shipping container? In recent years, the supply chain crisis during the Covid-19 global pandemic, Suez Canal obstruction, Baltimore bridge collapse, geopolitical conflicts, and trade war have all put the shipping industry in the spotlight. In this talk, maritime scholar Dr. Liang Wu from Cornell University will open the black box of container shipping to look into its systematic workings in the postwar globalization era. Traveling through time and between waterfront, shipboard, underwater, and overseas spaces, Dr. Wu will cover everything from shipping externalities to the life stories of seafarers and the maritime future of the planet.
click here for more information
View the recorded lecture (check back after the event, this lecture will be recorded)
Tuesday, March 10, 2026; 7:30 p.m.
Jacob Steinberg, Director & Cinematographer CosmoVision Media Group, Inc.
Ospreys in Crisis: Chesapeake Bay Lessons, Long Island Sound Stakes, and the Menhaden Connection
In the Chesapeake Bay, ospreys are experiencing widespread reproductive failure—an urgent warning from a coastal sentinel species. This lecture explores the emerging links between osprey decline, forage fish availability, and the industrial harvest of Atlantic menhaden, and explains why preventing similar impacts in Long Island Sound requires action now. The talk previews the forthcoming documentary The Most Important Fish in the Sea and introduces a new prey-based study Connecticut Audubon has agreed to launch to monitor risk closer to home.
click here for more information
View the recorded lecture (check back after the event, this lecture will be recorded)
Tuesday, March 24, 2026; 7:30 p.m. (offered in-person only, no online option)
Margaret Rubega, Ph.D., Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UConn, and Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History
Tern Conservation and Research on Great Gull Island, A Jewel of Long Island Sound
Over 50 years, Helen Hays of the American Museum of Natural History and countless volunteers built one of the most important tern colonies in the world on Great Gull Island, a former US Army Fort in Long Island Sound. The next 50 years will change conditions for the terns dramatically, threatening them through sea level rise and water warming effects. In this presentation, Dr. Rubega , who is collaborating with colleagues at other universities and non-profits, will describe current conservation planning and management on behalf of the terns, and research addressing future challenges.
click here for more information
This lecture will not be recorded.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026; 7:30 p.m.
Sarah Mallory, Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints, Morgan Library & Museum
The Art of Dutch Wetlands: Reclamation and Reconciliation
Wetlands, be it marshes, bogs, or sodden shoals, are quintessential features of seventeenth-century Dutch landscape drawings, prints, paintings, and decorative arts. Yet, the cultural significance of these ecosystems, which readily appear in works by celebrated artists including Rembrandt and Vermeer, is often–quite literally–overlooked by art historians. This talk will bring wetlands back into our field of vision. We will examine a wide array of artworks and their makers to reveal the fundamental importance of wetlands to Dutch art. We will also consider how these works, made more than four centuries ago, reflect colonial ideologies that continue to shape the world in which we live.
click here for more information
View the recorded lecture (check back after the event, this lecture will be recorded)
Tuesday, April 21, 2026; 7:30 p.m.
Tomas Koeck, M.A., Film producer, Photographer & Journalist
with: Jon Dodd, Executive Director, Atlantic Shark Institute
and: Jamie Vaudrey, Ph.D., Research Coordinator, Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve; Associate Research Professor, Department of Marine Sciences, Universisty of Connecticut
Wild New England: Our Wild Backyard
click here for more information
This lecture will not be recorded.