“The Great Museum of the Sea: Exploring the Ocean’s Depths For History”, Dec. 4

Southwestern’s geology lecture series continues on Saturday, December 5, 2015 at 7:00 pm with “The Great Museum of the Sea: Exploring the Ocean’s Depths For History”. Join maritime archaeologist Dr. James Delgado (Director of Maritime Heritage – NOAA) on a thousands-of-years, global tour of some of history’s greatest discoveries beneath the seas, ranging from the ancient world to modern wrecks. Dr. Delgado will discuss some of the sites he has personally investigated, from Kublai Khan’s lost fleet, to the Titanic and World War II warships. He also will explore West Coast and Oregon maritime past and archaeology. In addition to the lecture, representatives of the Coquille Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians will be present in the lobby before and after the lecture to display and discuss some of their extensive cultural history along Oregon’s south coast. Following the talk, the evening concludes with a free dessert reception in the lobby with desserts provided by the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute. Dr. Delgado is Director of NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Program. Previously, he was the President and CEO of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University for nearly five years, and was the Executive Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum (VMM) for 15 years. Before that, he was the head of the U.S. Government’s maritime preservation program and was the maritime historian for the U.S. National Park Service. During his nearly 14-year tenure with the VMM, Dr. Delgado co-hosted The Sea Hunters along with best-selling author Clive Cussler, from 2001 to 2006. Other television credits include specials for the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Explorer, A&E, the History Channel and ABC. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Explorers Club, Dr. Delgado is the author or editor of over 32 books and has published actively in leading archeology and history journals. All geology talks are free and are held in the Hales Center for the Performing Arts on Southwestern’s Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay. For those not able to attend in person, all lectures are Livestreamed and archived, with access from the college website at www.socc.edu. Continuing sponsors of the lecture series include the Southwestern Foundation and the College. The additional talks in the 2015-16 series include Dr. Doug Toomey (University of Oregon) on Earthquake Early Warning, January 16, 2016; Dr. Fritz Stahr (University of Washington) on using robotic equipment to study the ocean floor on March 4, 2016; and Dr. Scott Burns (Portland State University) discussing the Oso Landslide on April 16, 2016. For additional information contact Ron Metzger at 541-888-7216.