FAU’s climate change lecture series coming to Old School Square in Delray Beach

Kari Barnett, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·4 min read

The weather is always a hot topic (literally) here in South Florida. We dealt with unseasonably warm temps last winter and regular heat advisories have already been issued this summer. With three named storms formed in June, it’s also been a busy start to the 2023 hurricane season.

So what does it all mean for our state and coastlines?

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida Atlantic University will bring climate-related issues to the surface during a five-part monthly lecture series starting July 12 at the Vintage Gym at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., in Delray Beach.

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Hosted by the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority, this is the first time the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute will have off-campus programming that is open to everyone.

For over 40 years, the institute has offered adult learners noncredit, academic classes presented by FAU faculty and subject matter experts at its Boca Raton, Jupiter and Fort Lauderdale campuses for a $60 annual membership fee.

“OLLI at FAU on location in Delray Beach provides the community an opportunity to learn about current research and findings that are impacting the South Florida coastline,” said Jane G. Morgan, director of operations, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale campuses.

“We’ve curated timely topics exploring the effects of hurricanes on the Gulf Stream and ocean current, habitats of sea turtles changing with the climate, why climate change is sometimes polarizing and politicized, Florida’s historical artifacts threatened by rising seas, and challenges to the coral reef ecosystem.”

The lectures take place from 10:30 a.m. to noon Wednesdays with these topics:

  • July 12 — “The Effects of Hurricanes on the Gulf Stream: Implications for South Florida Sea Levels” with William Baxley, chief engineer for FAU’s Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center. Fresh off an offshore testing trip, he’ll discuss how Hurricane Sandy affected the Florida Current just offshore South Florida. “The dramatic reduction in flow may affect coastal sea level rise during storms more than if there was not a major ocean current just offshore as we have here,” he said.

  • Aug. 9 — “The Impact of the Changing Environment on Florida’s Nesting Turtles” with Jeanette Wyneken, professor of biological sciences and director, FAU Marine Lab at Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex. With threats of sea level rise and beach erosion from storms, sea turtles struggle. Wyneken will share her research. “Sea turtles rely on coastal beaches for successful reproduction. Sea turtles nests incubate underground throughout the last spring and summer months. The success of each clutch depends upon the incubation environment,” she said. “Additionally, those embryos lack sex chromosomes. The incubation temperatures determine if the embryo will be come male (at less warm temperatures) or female at warmer temperatures. The developing embryos can’t escape extreme weather so their survival depended upon not getting too hot, or too wet.”

  • Sept. 13 — “Wading Through the Politicized Nature of South Florida Climate Change” with Colin Polsky, director of the Florida Center for Environmental Studies at FAU. He’ll talk about partisan divide on climate change, how it has diminished recently and Floridians’ views on climate.

  • Oct. 11 — “Our Coral Reef Ecosystems: Exploration and Conservation in a Changing Climate” with Joshua Voss, associate research professor, FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. “Coral reef ecosystems, particularly those in South Florida, face several challenges ranging from climate change to emerging new diseases,” he said. “In this lecture series, I’ll focus on innovative new approaches and the concerted efforts currently underway to conserve critical coral reef ecosystems and the key services they provide.”

  • Nov. 8 — “Florida’s Archaeology Threatened by Rising Seas” with Sara Ayers-Rigsby, southeast/southwest regional director for the Florida Public Archaeology Network. “We often think of climate change as impacting our future, but it is destroying our past as well. Stronger, more frequent hurricanes are impacting the archaeological record of 14,000 years of human occupation here in Florida,” she said. “This presentation will explore what we are learning from these sites, what is at stake when they are impacted, and how we can work to preserve and protect them.”

“This series is timely and continues to be a learning experience mixed with the socializing,” said Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Laura Simon. “Downtown Delray is a perfect location to provide the social side of learning and living, providing that vibrancy which makes education better.”

Each lecture is $30 for OLLI members, $35 for nonmembers; $35 for all tickets sold at the door. Visit olliboca.fau.edu, call 561-297-3185, or email olliboca@fau.edu. Free parking is available at the
Old School Parking Garage, 180 NE First St., Delray Beach.