Paleoecology focus of free Zoom presentation

The Maui Nui Marine Resource Council will host a free Zoom presentation that focuses on the science of palaeoecology at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

The talk is part of the council's monthly "Know Your Ocean Speaker Series" and will be presented by Scott Fisher, the chief conservation officer at Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.

Paleoecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales.

Fisher and the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust staff are using sediment coring at locations such as Nu'u Pond to extract and examine micro-fossils embedded in the sediment. They are working to understand past ecosystems on Hawaiian Islands Land Trust lands, particularly the function and composition of vegetation across landscapes.

"As climate change brings about substantive changes to our islands, we need to discern ways of adapting to more intense storms, sea level rise and loss of coastal ecosystems," Fisher said. "The past holds the key to the future, and by learning about the past, we can better understand how to restore, adapt and change in order to make our islands and nearshore coral reefs more resilient."

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Advance reservations are required. To make a reservation, visit bit.ly/HILTpast.