Home > FREE > Science on Tap - Takeover By Alien Invaders: Invasive Species in our Oceans by Amy Freestone, Ph.D.

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Science on Tap - Takeover By Alien Invaders: Invasive Species in our Oceans by Amy Freestone, Ph.D.

Presented by Wagner Free Institute of Science at National Mechanics

September 10, 2012

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Although not from space, alien invaders are appearing in our ecosystems at an accelerating pace. Species are transported across the globe through human travel and trade, and these species are continually being introduced to new environments where they did not exist previously. These species are called introduced, non-native, exotic, or even alien, and while many are harmless, some can become invasive and cause significant ecological and economic harm. Invasive species are one of the leading threats to global biodiversity today. Invasive species in our oceans are less understood than many of the conspicuous invasive species that occur in terrestrial ecosystems, but their occurrences and impacts are on the rise. Travel with Dr. Freestone to her coastal field sites along the North Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea as she discusses her research on marine invasions and a new global initiative that she is leading to understand invasion dynamics across the Americas, Europe, and Australia.

Dr. Amy Freestone is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Temple University. Her ecological field research spans North and Central America and the African island nations of the Union of the Comoros and Madagascar. Her research has been supported by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation and has appeared in numerous scientific journals. She has been invited to give talks on her research both nationally and internationally.