CALENDAR LISTING

CONTACT:

Barbara Russo: 718-265-3428; 917-494-5493; brusso@wcs.org

Max Pulsinelli: 718-220-5182; 571-218-7601; mpulsinelli@wcs.org

Steve Fairchild: 718-220-5189; sfairchild@wcs.org

WCS’s New York Aquarium Presents:

Ocean Planning: Sharing NYC’s Busy Waters

Tuesday, May 24

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.)

Columbia University Faculty House

64 Morningside Drive

New York – May 17, 2016 –  WCS’s (Wildlife Conservation Society) New York Aquarium will host a panel discussion and interactive tech demonstration about human use, proactive planning, and conservation of New York’s ocean ecosystem on Tuesday, May 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Officials from the White House and New York State will discuss how ocean planning can promote conservation and sustainable use of local waters.

Attendees will have an opportunity to try out the New York Ocean Gateway, a website that provides public access to data, interactive tools, and expert knowledge about marine wildlife and human uses. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own mobile devices including laptops and tablets as they explore ways to balance shipping, fishing, wind farms, and local wildlife, all things that are part of life and activity in the ocean.

Speakers include: Jon Forrest Dohlin, WCS Vice President and Director of the New York Aquarium; Beth Kerttula, Director of the White House National Ocean Council; Jeff Herter, Gateway Project Manager in the Development Division of the Office of Planning and Development, New York Dept. of State.

WCS’s New York Aquarium runs the local marine conservation program, the NY Seascape. The program is designed to restore healthy populations of local marine species—many of them threatened—and protect New York marine waters, which are vital to wildlife and key to the area’s economic and cultural vitality.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. RSVP to nyseascape@wcs.org.

Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Aquarium is open every day of the year. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Fall/winter/spring hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., daily. Tickets are $11.95 per person (ages 3 & up), and include Aquarium admission plus one admission to the new 4-D Theater; children age 2 and under are admitted free. Fridays after 4 p.m. in the summer and after 3 p.m. in the fall, Aquarium admission is by pay-what-you-wish donation. Last entry is one hour before closing. The aquarium is located on Surf Avenue at West 8th Street in Coney Island.  The New York Aquarium is located on property owned by the City of New York, and its operation is made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For directions, information on public events and programs, and other aquarium information, call 718-265-FISH or visit our web site at http://www.nyaquarium.com. Now is the perfect time to visit and show support for the WCS New York Aquarium, a beloved part of Brooklyn and all of the City of New York. Due to Hurricane Sandy we are partially opened. Check our website for more information. www.nyaquarium.com.

WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in nearly 60 nations and in all the world’s oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: 347-840-1242.

Special Note to the Media: If you would like to guide your readers or viewers to a Web link where they can make donations in support of helping save wildlife and wild places, please direct them to wcs.org.

###