In my ongoing pursuit to understand ocean science and marine life, I’ve attended many lectures. My favorite and one that still stands out in my memory was presented by Josh Willis, an oceanographer who works for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, more commonly known as JPL.

What was so great about this talk? It was presented in a way that was understandable, interesting, and if you can believe it or not, funny! Josh has an excellent sense of humor and was able to score several laughs during his presentation titled, “The Ocean and Global Warming.” Who knew that it was even possible to slip humor into a lecture with such a stark title featuring straight-laced science and depressing statistics?

After seeing Josh present a second time earlier this year, I asked him if he would be willing to share some of his time and knowledge for Ocean Wild Things and he said yes!

He has agreed to take time to discuss the ocean’s role in climate change. I will be reporting here what I find out. For more information on Josh’s credentials and JPL projects, visit his JPL people page.

After an elaborate decision-making process, which involved me accidentally knocking over a full glass of water right before I was supposed to call Josh, I decided sea-level rise was a good place to start. When I called Josh and explained what happened, he agreed, it was a good place to start, not because I spilled water, but because it ties in with recent research findings and events. So sea level rise it is, future post, be there.