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 deep-sea 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.
Preparation for this class
Please read the texts in the next paragraph (approx 7 minutes). This must be completed before class where we will be discussing the following questions:
- How the warming of the ocean is affecting the growth of crops on land.
- How the biodiversity of the ocean, including fish, mammals, and flora are affected by tides, currents, and temperatures.
- Who is looking after the health of our planet’s oceans?
Essential Reading
- The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The seventeen goals developed by the UN set out the ways in which the future of the planet can be sustained for humanity into the future.
(Reading time 2 minutes) - World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice. In 2017 the world received our second notice of the threat to our planet’s future from more than 1,700 scientists.
(Reading time 5 minutes)
Additional Reading
- Nishimura, H., Lim, K. Y. T., & Koyamada, K. (2012). The Abyss Observatory – designing for remote collaboration, self-directed discovery and intuition development in multi-user interactive 3D virtual environments. Journal For Virtual Worlds Research, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v5i2.6304
Conclusion
Following this immersive tour of the ocean, and its many different zones, you will have a broader appreciation of how interconnected it is with the land on which we live. Out planet is not a series of isolated regions or land masses that can act independently of each other but an integrated biosphere in a delicate balance that supports our existence. We need to learn how to take care of it so that it can continue to provide a home for homo sapiens.
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).
