Science Diplomacy Club: Ocean Exploration & Marine Biodiversity

This talk reveals how the synergy of exploration and taxonomy deepens our understanding of the ocean and drives marine conservation forward.

How does ocean exploration spur marine biodiversity discovery and conservation? This program brings together two complementary perspectives on ocean knowledge and conservation.

The first talk by Dr. Auscavitch delves into the importance of ocean exploration and the applications of new tools that allow scientists to make species discoveries, establish baseline biodiversity metrics, and inform marine conservation priorities.

The second talk by Dr. Cobo explores the foundational role of taxonomy in identifying and classifying marine life. Together, these talks highlight how synergies in the sciences of taxonomy and ocean exploration improve the ability to holistically understand marine biodiversity and can help shape global conservation priorities.

Guest speakers

Dr. Auscavitch

Dr. Auscavitch is a marine genomics researcher in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History. His research focuses on understanding the distribution and diversity of life in the deepest parts of the ocean, using new tools like environmental DNA.

He has served as lead scientist on several expeditions aboard the exploration vessels E/V Nautilus and NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer in the western Atlantic and central Pacific Ocean which provided the first look at unexplored deep-sea environments in marine protected areas. He has received his BS in Marine Sciences at the University of Connecticut, followed by an MS in Marine Biology at the University of Maine, and PhD in Biology at Temple University.

Dr. Cobo

Dr. Cobo is a marine biologist whose work focuses on the biodiversity and systematics of marine mollusks with special focus on the group Solenogastres, from shallow to deep-sea environments. She has described several new species and now is focused on the study of their interactions with corals. Cobo obtained her Ph.D. atthe University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), where she also worked at the Marine Biology and Hydrobiological field stations.

In the United States, she expanded her research at the University of Alabama, first through a Fulbright Ruth Lee Kennedy fellowship and then as a postdoctoral researcher supported by an NSF grant. Currently, she works as a researcher at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.