Waters all over the world are warming. However, due to its unique oceanography, the Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest warming regions of the global ocean. The warming of the waters off New England has led to declines in important commercial species such as northern shrimp and cod, but it is also creating new opportunities as warmer-water species move northward. Join Dr. Pershing to hear how the rapid warming in the Gulf of Maine gives us a unique opportunity to understand how ocean animals respond to changes in temperature and how we can prepare for the changes that we know are coming.
Andy took over as GMRI's Chief Scientific Officer in 2014 and continues to run the Ecosystem Modeling Lab. Prior to becoming CSO, Andy had a joint appointment as a faculty member in the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences and as a research scientist at GMRI. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of changing conditions in the Gulf of Maine, and he is an expert on how climate variability and climate change impact the ecosystems in the northwest Atlantic. He uses a variety of techniques, including analysis of past changes in the physical and ecological conditions, as well as advanced mathematical and computer models of how marine populations change through time. Andy has worked primarily on zooplankton, especially rice grain-sized crustaceans called copepods, but he has also studied lobsters, herring, cod, salmon, bluefin tuna, and right whales. He is actively involved in regional efforts to understand and adapt to climate change.