Kelp, Eelgrass and the Food Web of Puget Sound

Kelp, eelgrass and the hundreds of different seaweeds found in Puget Sound provide critical habitat and an important component of the food web. They also serve as environmental indicators of the Sound's health.

So what when the bull kelp you kayak in disappears? Why is everyone so concerned about eelgrass? Are you worried about the ever-larger piles of rotting seaweed on the beach?

Come ponder the answers to these questions (and more) with a real phycologist.

Dr. Tom Mumford received his BA from Wabash College in 1966 and his doctorate in botany from the University of Washington in 1972. He spent three years at the University of British Columbia on a postdoctoral fellowship before joining the Washington Department of Natural Resources in 1976. He spent several years researching the cultivation of seaweeds for the production of phycolloids and food. His interests now include the biology and management of seaweeds and seagrasses, and the inventory and monitoring of marine and estuarine habitats. He is a member of AAAS, Ecological Society of America, Phycological Society of America, and the Society of Wetland Scientists. He has taught in various universities and consulted overseas in seaweed aquaculture.

Admission:
$6, People For Puget Sound members; $8 nonmembers