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Where Ecosystems Crash

This class is a field trip to the Abyss Observatory. We will have a tour of this international science museum / aquarium Earth, science, marine life, and undersea technology that inspires a sense of wonder for the deepsea world. Various ecosystems have been accurately recreated with appropriate flora and fauna. Our host, Delia Lake, will will explain the impact of human intervention on these environments and how they are changing due to the heating of the oceans, which is having an equal impact on aquaculture, land, agriculture, and societies.

This long video (1 and ¼ hours) is a recording of the class field trip in the Spring 2024 semester. Recording courstey of Sitearm Madonna.

Preparation for this class

This is no advance prepartation work required for this class.

Guest Speaker – Delia Lake

Murat Gülmez met Delia Lake (Linda Morris Kelley in the natural world) during a presenation at the Sceince Circle in Second Life and invited her to meet his students at Çağ University. This quickly led to a return invitation from Delia to bring the whole class to the Abyss Observatory, where she is a habitat curator, for a guided tour, and this has continued each semester since.

Linda Morris Kelley is an ecologist focused on sustainability and the health of oceans. In Second Life she builds representative natural habitats and talks about ecology, now mostly at the Abyss Observatory, but previously at the Center for Water Studies for about 8 years. She also curates art exhibits at MoCA Neufreistadt, and participates in developing democratic community, such as tghe Confederation of Democratic Simulators.

She is a leader in using 3D virtual technologies and geospaces for collaborative problem-solving, immersive learning, and collective ingenuity. Applying her business experience in service of her communities, Linda was on the board of the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts for 15 years, and is currently Co-Chair of the Executive Committee of Berkshire Bridges Working Cities, and on the steering committee of Roots Rising. She is also co-author of The Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook: Building New Bridges (Routledge, 2019).