The next talk in the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum’s (SBMM) Maritime Distinguished Speaker Series is titled Shooting for the Stars: Sunflower Star Laboratory’s Community-Based Approach to Pycnopodia Recovery.

Delivered by Reuven Bank, co-founder and chairman of the board of the Sunflower Star Laboratory (SSL), the program will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19.

Tickets are free for Navigators Circle members, $10 for SBMM members, $20 for the general public, $5 for students and educators with a valid school ID or email. For tickets, call 805-456-8750.

Pycnopodia helianthoides, commonly known as the sunflower star, is a massive, vibrantly-colored seastar predator that once roamed coastal kelp forests, devouring sea urchins and maintaining ecological balance, according to SBMM.

In the 2013-14 sea star wasting-syndrome outbreak, one of the largest marine-disease events on record, these keystone predators collapsed into functional extinction along California’s coast.

With their loss came the dramatic decline of kelp forests; over 96 percent of Northern California’s kelp canopy has vanished in the last decade, and the trend extends into regions of Santa Barbara County, SBMM reports.

“At SBMM, we believe a healthy ocean means a healthy people and region; our next chapter will deepen that link between local maritime history, ecosystem resilience, and public stewardship,” said Lis Perry, director of education.

Founded in 2021 by a coalition of concerned community members, the Sunflower Star Laboratory is a nonprofit conservation-aquaculture initiative that is rearing part of California’s first cohort of human-reared juvenile sunflower stars.

The talk will highlight SSL’s pioneering research methods, their partnerships across North America, and how their efforts tie directly into kelp-forest restoration and ecosystem resilience in the Santa Barbara Channel region.

SSL’s community-based model makes it an ideal lens for understanding how local engagement and science can intersect to rebuild ecosystem health, the museum said.

“We’re honored to host leaders who bring both rigorous science and community hearth. This presentation on sunflower star recovery shows how bold action and compassion go hand in hand for the Santa Barbara Channel’s future,” SBMM said.

Bank is a former coastal resource manager in the U.S. Peace Corps (Philippines) and has served as chairman of the Sunflower Star Laboratory’s Board of Directors since its founding.

“Kelp forests are an essential ecosystem for our planet, and they are disappearing before our eyes in California. Restoring the sunflower star is the single most impactful step we can take to give California’s beleaguered kelp forests a chance at recovery,” Bank said.

“I’m excited to share how the Sunflower Star Laboratory team is super-charging recovery efforts for this vital keystone species and the ecosystems they support,” he said.

To earn more, visit the Sunflower Star Laboratory website.

All lecture seating is first-come, first-served. SBMM members are invited to a pre-lecture reception, 6:15-6:45 p.m.

The Maritime Distinguished Speaker Series is sponsored by Marie L Morrisroe. Learn more at sbmm.org.