The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) will host Conner Philson, executive director of UC Santa Barbara’s Natural Reserve System, for the October installment of its Maritime Distinguished Speaker Series.
Philson will address Discovery & Education in the Wild at UCSB’s Hidden Gem: The Natural Reserve System, 7-8:30 p.m. at SBMM, 113 Harbor Way, Santa Barbara.
SBMM members are invited to a pre-lecture reception, 6:15-6:45 p.m.
Event tickets are free for Navigators Circle members, $10 for SBMM members, $20 for the general public, and $5 for students and educators with valid school ID or email.
For reservations, visit sbmm.org, email reservations@sbmm.org, or call 805-456-8750.
Tucked into the hills, coastlines, mountains and Channel Islands are some of California’s most distinctive ecosystems, and UC Santa Barbara’s Natural Reserve System is one of the university’s best-kept secrets, according to SBMM.
The network of seven protected wildlands serves as a living laboratory where scientists, students, and conservation partners study the natural world and develop new approaches to understanding and protecting it.
Philson’s talk will offer an inside look at the Natural Reserve System — what it is, how it developed, and why its protected sites, research programs, and educational opportunities are increasingly important.
Drawing from a portfolio of more than 270 active research projects, Philson will highlight discoveries spanning ecology, evolution, climate science, marine biology, and related fields.
Topics will include rare species recovery; long-term climate monitoring; and collaborative research that helps scientists better understand the ecosystems supporting clean air, water, food, wildlife, and human communities.
The program will also explore the reserves’ role as classrooms without walls.
“Conner brings a leading perspective on what it means to conduct research and learn in California’s wildest and most distinctive ecosystems,” said Dean Noble, SBMM executive director.
“His work directing the UCSB Natural Reserve System reflects the kind of partnership among science, education, and land stewardship that is essential to understanding and conserving the ecosystems on which we all depend,” Noble said.
As executive director of the Natural Reserve System at UCSB, Philson oversees a network of protected lands and field laboratories supporting research, teaching, and conservation across California’s diverse ecosystems.
He earned his Ph.D in ecology and evolutionary biology from UCLA, where he studied the social behavior of wild mammals at field sites around the world.
Philson also serves as president of the Organization of Biological Field Stations, a global network of field research laboratories.