Meet Our 2019 Shape Your Cape Summit Plenary Speaker, Heidi Sosik!
Meet Heidi Sosik of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute!
CCYP is pleased to present our 2019 Shape Your Cape Summit Plenary Speaker, Heidi Sosik of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution! Heidi is a Senior Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where she has been on the faculty and staff since 1994, and currently holds the Stanley W. Watson Chair for Excellence in Oceanography. A biological oceanographer and inventor, Sosik and her co-workers have developed automated underwater analyzers that dramatically enhance scientists’ and resource managers’ ability to study microscopic organisms that fuel ocean food chains, interact with Earth’s climate, and sometimes produce harmful algal blooms that threaten ecosystem and human health.
On Cape Cod, we are no strangers to how the ocean deeply affects our community far beyond just environmentally, but economically and professionally as well. Heidi's curiosity for the ocean spans far beyond just the waves we see crashing along our favorite beaches. Rather, her interest in the ocean travels to the depths of the sunlight deprived twilight zone, a portion of the ocean that, in many aspects, is still undiscovered territory. At 200 to 1,000 meters below the surface, scientists have found that even the deepest reaches of the ocean is full of unique and fascinating life. At WHOI, Heidi and her colleagues are set on uncovering the secrets of the twilight zone and their excitement is warranted. The twilight zone is uncharted territory, potentially harboring not only new species of oceanic creatures, but further knowledge on the effects of global warming on our climate. In her TedTalk "The discoveries awaiting us in the ocean's twilight zone," Heidi speaks on her work towards trekking into the twilight zone, utilizing groundbreaking technology to uncover the richness of knowledge that is waiting at the bottom of the ocean.
As the featured Lunch Plenary Speaker for this year’s Shape Your Cape Summit, Heidi will share how technologies like lasers, robots, and artificial intelligence are teaching us new things about the tiny organisms that make up our world – and having big impacts on our local economies, global climate, and everyday lives.