International Penguin Conference
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Simons IMAX Theatre
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

For the first time in its more than 20-year history, the International Penguin Conference is taking place in the Northern Hemisphere. The New England Aquarium is proud to host the event here in Boston this fall. Join prominent penguin scientists from around the world as they share their most recent findings about these threatened and endangered birds during this public event.

About the speakers

Dee Boersma, Ph.D

Photo credit: William Conway/Wildlife Conservation Society

Dee Boersma, a University of Washington conservation biologist, is the Jane Goodall of penguins. As director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Penguin Project, Dr. Boersma has spent the last quarter of a century studying the behaviors of some 40,000 Magellanic penguins, inhabitants of one stretch of beach in southern Argentina.

Grant Ballard, Ph.D.

Photo credit: Lloyd Fales

Grant Ballard, Senior Biologist at the Point Reyes Bird Observatory in Petaluma, California, has been studying Adelie penguins since 1996. He and a team of researchers have been studying how the birds are responding to and coping with a sudden rise in temperature and what that may mean for polar environments and ultimately for the planet.

Peter Barham, Ph.D.


Peter Barham is a Professorial Teaching Fellow in Physics at the University of Bristol, UK and visiting Professor of Molecular Gastronomy at the Royal Veterinary University in Copenhagen, Denmark. Peter Barham's research at the University of Bristol is concerned with polymer physics and he has found great ways to connect his research with his love of penguins, including the creation of silicon-based flipper bands which can be used for monitoring penguin populations.

Jonathan Chester


Jonathan Chester is one of the world's leading polar photographers and expeditioners. In the past 15 years Jonathan has spent 12 austral summer seasons in Antarctica resulting in numerous books and other media projects. Jonathan is an expedition leader, a naturalist and historian on polar tourist cruises, and has been lecturing on the Antarctic, the Himalaya and photography for over 25 years.

This event is free and open to the public, please let us know if you plan to attend!
Click here to RSVP.