FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- 10/2/02 | Contact: Diana Smith, 719-389-6138  

COLORADO SPRINGS -- Marcia K. McNutt, 1974 CC alumna and CEO of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, will discuss “Engineering the Ocean” at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, October 14, in Gates Common Room, located on the third floor of Palmer Hall in the center of campus.

McNutt’s talk will address how developments in microprocessors, artificial intelligence, and new forms of power and communications for autonomous systems are already bringing about a revolution in our ability to explore, experiment within, and ultimately understand Earth’s last frontier: the ocean. The ocean is Earth’s largest living space and contains most of its biomass. Eighty percent of all known phyla are found only in the ocean, and most photosynthesis occurs there. The ocean moderates our climate to keep Earth habitable, and it processes our wastes. The ocean provides an inexpensive source of protein to feed the global population. Yet 95 percent of the ocean is unknown and unexplored.

“Such manipulations might end up helping or hurting mankind,” McNutt explains. “Will we have the intelligence to understand the implications of our actions, the humility to admit what we do not know, and the unselfishness to take the long-term view on what is the best policy for the planet? We are the first species on Earth to have ever possessed the ability to purposefully change the conditions on our planet. The question is whether we will be wise enough to avoid inadvertently destroying it.” She will ask: Will the clash of the exploration imperative overcome the ethical issues surrounding potentially destroying the last remaining hope for our world’s sustainability?

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, McNutt manages 200 scientists, engineers, and marine technical and administrative staff, as well as a $30 million annual budget. She recently served as vice chair of the Advisory Committee for Geosciences at the National Science Foundation and is also president of the American Geophysical Union, the largest society of Earth science professionals at nearly 35,000 members.

One of the first women to graduate from the CC physics department, McNutt went to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, then took a circuitous route to MIT, where she taught for 15 years and directed the Joint Program in Oceanography with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Free and open to the public, the event is sponsored by the CC physics department. During her time on campus, McNutt will also talk to science students and faculty.

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