Art

"The Plastic Perils of the Pacific" highlights the issue of plastic pollution in the ocean and how it affects the animals that live there. "Dissolving Destinies", a 3D animated film, addresses ocean acidification and follows a crab through a coral reef. Strathmann is an assistant professor of animation at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.

Daniel Beltra and Larry McKinney presented a joint lecture at the Aquarium on October 13, 2011, and discussed the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Beltra is a professional photographer based in Seattle. His photography covering the Gulf spill was exhibited at the Aquarium. McKinney provided the scientist's perspective. He serves as the executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.

Michele Westmorland, who spoke at the Aquarium on March 30, 2011, is a photojournalist with a twenty-year history of traveling the world documenting the marine life that inhabits the oceans. Her work has appeared in national and international publications, including National Geographic Traveler, Outside, Sport Diver, and Scuba Diving.

Marc Shargel, who spoke at the Aquarium on June 28, 2011, has been diving along the California coast since 1978. He has been working as a professional marine life photographer for over twenty years. A longtime advocate for the adoption of marine reserves, Shargel served on the state's official advisory body, helping to select sites for marine protected areas along the southern central coast.

Garcetti has spent much of his life as an urban photographer, with solo exhibitions at the United Nations in New York, National Building Museum in Washington D.C., and Millennium Art Museum in Beijing, among other institutions and galleries. In 2003 American Photo named Garcetti one of the country’s four master photographers. In addition to his photography, Garcetti has taught at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Goods graduated in 2002 in the graphic design program at Art Center College of Design and currently serves as the visual strategist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He co-curated a show called "Data + Art: Art and Science in the Age of Information" at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.

Ian Shive is an award-winning photographer whose images have appeared in Time Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, National Geographic, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Popular Photography and Outside Magazine. Shive’s profession has taken him around the world and he has become an active advocate for the causes he photographs.

Artist Reuben Margolin has spent the last ten years making kinetic sculptures inspired by wave motion. Seeking to combine the logic of mathematics with the sensuousness of nature, Reuben built a series of monumental mechanical mobiles that have been exhibited internationally, including at the Aquarium of the Pacific. He received his BA from Harvard University, has studied at art schools in Russia and Italy, and has been an artist in residence in Spain and India.

Sara Gerhardt and Elizabeth Pepin not only know how to surf waves, they also know how to make them. Each in her own way has pushed the envelope for women in the male-dominated world of surfing. Gerhardt, who has a PhD in physical chemistry, has been a surfer for over 20 years. She was the first woman to surf Mavericks with its 20 foot tall waves. Pepin has been capturing the women's surf scene with her camera since 1997. Her skills at photographing the surfing scene have earned her four Emmy Awards.