DigitalOcean: Connecting for Ocean Sustainability
Sunday, November 8, 2009, 3 p.m.-5 p.m., Theatre 39-Pier 39, San Francisco, CA
Event presented by Oracle, Outhink Media, and University of California-San Barbara's Environmental Media Initiative, with additional support from the Aquarium of the Bay, The Bay Institute, the Blue Frontier Campaign, and the New Media Research Institute.
The DigitalOcean project at UC Santa Barbara is going on the road — all the way to San Francisco’s Pier 39 — for a special event on Sunday, November 8, from 3 to 5 p.m., titled “DigitalOcean: Connecting for Ocean Sustainability.” Sponsored by Oracle, the program is designed to bring attention to DigitalOcean, a virtual commons being developed by UCSB’s Environmental Media Initiative to create global communities using new media to advance ocean sustainability and protect ocean ecosystems.
The event, which will take place at Theater 39, will focus on showing how young people can get involved in ocean conservation efforts. The program includes the world premiere screening of the film “Students Saving the Ocean” and clips from the documentary “Saving the Bay”; a presentation by David Helvarg and Jim Toomey, author and illustrator, respectively, of the book “50 Ways to Save the Ocean”; and a keynote lecture on “Sustainable Fisheries” by Steven Gaines, director of UCSB’s Marine Science Institute and the newly appointed dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. The event is free and open to the public.
Event Presenters
Ron Blatman
Ron Blatman is executive producer, producer and creator of Saving the Bay. He is also planning a television series about why cities are important and how to make downtowns and surrounding neighborhoods better places. He previously worked in real estate development and finance in his native San Francisco and on Wall Street in New York, as well as serving as Director of Business Development in the San Francisco mayor's office in the early 1990s
Steve Gaines
Dr. Steven Gaines is an award-winning ocean science researcher and director of UC Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute. His co-authored study on the role of catch shares in promoting sustainable fishing practices appeared in the Sept. 19, 2008 issue of the journal “Science,” and received international media coverage by outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Toronto Star, and The Economist.
David Helgard
Award-winning author, journalist, and producer David Helvarg is the Founder and President of the Blue Frontier Campaign (www.bluefront.org). In addition to 50 Ways to Save the Ocean, he has written 3 other books (Blue Frontier, The War Against the Greens, and Rescue Warriors). He is editor of the Ocean and Coastal Conservation Guide, organizer of several ‘Blue Vision’ Summits for ocean activists, and winner of Coastal Living Magazine’s 2005 Leadership Award and the 2007 Herman Melville literary Award.
Jim Toomey
For the past 17 years, Jim Toomey has been writing and drawing the popular daily newspaper comic strip 'Sherman's Lagoon,' which is syndicated to over 250 U.S. newspapers and over 30 foreign countries. Sherman's Lagoon combines two of his life-long passions: art and the sea. In addition to drawing his comic strip, Jim is active in marine conservation, and has received the Environmental Hero Award, presented by NOAA on behalf of Vice President Al Gore “for using art and humor to conserve and protect our marine heritage.”
Event Sponors
Oracle
Oracle is the world’s largest enterprise software company. For almost 30 years, Oracle has been helping customers like manage their business systems and information with reliable, secure, and integrated technologies. Today, Oracle has more than 320,000 customers—including 100 of the Fortune Global 100—and supports these customers in more than 145 countries. For more information about Oracle visit http://www.oracle.com.
Outhink Media
Founded by Dave Toole, Outhink Media connects new media artists and producers through collaborative social networking tools. With funding from the Dave and Diane Toole Foundation, Outhink Media is building a social media platform for the DigitalOcean Network. The platform will enable marine scientists, educators, students, and ocean enthusiasts to share content related to ocean sustainability. Please visit www.outhink.com for more information.
Aquarium of the Bay
Aquarium of the Bay is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit marine nature center owned and operated by The Bay Institute. The Aquarium is dedicated to creating experiences that inspire conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and certified as a Green Business by the city of San Francisco. Additional information is available at www.aquariumofthebay.org.
The Bay Institute
The Bay Institute was founded 28 years ago by pioneers of a new advocacy approach which views the entire San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem as a single, interdependent watershed. Using a combination of scientific research, public education and political advocacy to work toward the protection and environmental restoration of the entire watershed which drains into San Francisco Bay, The Bay Institute works to place long-term environmental needs on equal footing with other priorities in the formation of the area's environmental and economic policies. Additional information is available at www.bay.org.
Blue Frontier Campaign
The Blue Frontier Campaign was founded in 2003 by David Helvarg, author of Blue Frontier – Saving America’s Living Seas. It works to support seaweed (marine grassroots) efforts at the local, regional and national level, with an emphasis on bottom up organizing to bring the voice of citizen-activists into national decision-making that will impact our public seas. For more information, please visit www.bluefront.org.
New Media Research Institute
The New Media Research Institute is a small group of media theorists and programmers who are forging a vision of the digital future into software and content. The NMRI builds partnerships that enable forefront research into the future of new media. A publicly funded research institute, the NMRI is the research wing of The New Media Studio, a California based 501(c)3 public benefit corporation. For more information please visit www.nmri.org.
