HISTORY MATTERS
by
Prof. Jere H. Lipps,
Department of Integrative Biology & Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley. California, USA
On Monday, 18th Nov 2019 at 17:00
at the Raja Ravi Varma Hall, Ghole Road, Pune 411005.
ABOUT THE TALK
In his talk on “History Matters”, Prof. Lipps will review the Uniformitarian “The Present is the Key to the Past” concluding that “The Past is also the Key to the Present and the Future”, with examples from the geologic and fossil record and how those may guide decisions and research into solving societal problems today. Items like Sea Level Rise, Climate Change, Faulting, Mountain Building, Ocean Dynamics, and Evolution and Extinction.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jere H. Lipps is Professor of the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley, and Curator of Paleontology, UC Museum of Paleontology. Lipps was the ninth Director of the museum (1989–1997) and chair of the department of Integrative Biology at Berkeley (1991–1994). He served as president of the Paleontological Society in 1997 and the Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research Inc. five times. He is Secretary of Geology and Geography Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Jere Lipps earned a B.A. (1963) and a Ph.D. (1966) from the University of California, Los Angeles. During this time, he worked on geological and paleontological research on the Southern California Channel Islands, collecting fossils and documenting the geology on six of the eight islands. After his Ph.D., Lipps moved to the University of California, Davis. He studies the biology, geologic history and molecular phylogeny of coral reefs (Papua New Guinea, Enewetak Atoll, French Polynesia) and of foraminifera with the aim of better understanding the fossil record of these forms and ecosystems. He has worked in Antarctica, Russia, Tahiti/Moorea, California, Mexico, China, France and Papua New Guinea on these problems. The Antarctic Board of Geographic Place Names (1979) named an island on the Antarctic Peninsula for him called Lipps Island. He is the recipient of many awards including Antarctic Medal of the United States, Darwin Award of National Center for Science Education and the Soaring Eagle Award for lifetime achievement in science from Eagle Rock High School He is a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, AAAS, the Geological Society of America, and the Paleontological Society, as well as recipient of the J. A. Cushman Award.
His main research interests are in the broad area of Evolutionary Biology of marine animals and protists in particular. In this work, he has looked at the impact of climate change on the evolutionary history of ocean life. Starting in 1970, he published papers on how warming caused the extinction of marine organisms at the six major and 25 minor extinction events. From this work, his concern about the future of the world, its people and his family have compelled him to lecture publicly about “Climate Crisis” in various places including India. Since beginning the lecture series more than two decades ago, climate change has turned into “Climate Emergency” as the world continues to feel increased climate impacts.
His main research interests are in the broad area of Evolutionary Biology of marine animals and protists in particular. In this work, he has looked at the impact of climate change on the evolutionary history of ocean life. Starting in 1970, he published papers on how warming caused the extinction of marine organisms at the six major and 25 minor extinction events. From this work, his concern about the future of the world, its people and his family have compelled him to lecture publicly about “Climate Crisis” in various places including India. Since beginning the lecture series more than two decades ago, climate change has turned into “Climate Emergency” as the world continues to feel increased climate impacts.
