Florida Museum presents 'Revealing the Deep' lecture March 30

March 23, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Explore the new science behind mysterious black smokers–deep-sea hot water vents–and exotic tubeworms as Daniel J.

Fornari, director of the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute, discusses 21st-century ocean science and technology at 6 p.m. March 30. Fornari’s lecture, “Revealing the Deep: the 21st Century Revolution in Ocean Science and Technology,” will be held at the Florida Museum of Natural History as part of its Museum Nights program.

Fornari holds the W. Van Allen Clark Senior Scientist Chair at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He is internationally recognized for his research in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans on volcanic and hydrothermal processes and on the structure and magmatic processes at oceanic transforms and islands, such as Hawaii and the Galapagos. In 2000, he co-developed “Dive and Discover,” an education and outreach Web site for school science enrichment.

After Fornari’s presentation, Florida Museum of Natural History Molecular Lab Curator Pam Soltis will dissect myth from reality in “The Relic” beginning at 8 p.m. The discussion will be followed by a public screening of the R-rated horror film “The Relic.”

Funded by UF Student Government, Museum Nights strives to increase student and community visitation at the UF Cultural Plaza, located near the intersection of Southwest 34th Street and Hull Road. It serves as an entertainment alternative for Thursday nights in Gainesville and offers individuals who are too busy during the day the opportunity to visit the museums in the evening. For more information and a complete schedule, visit the UF Student Government Web site at www.sg.ufl.edu.