lcugini@gso.uri.edu
Narragansett, RI — April 14, 2003 — Narragansett Bay is one of Rhode Island’s most beautiful resources. But its beauty goes beyond the sparkling surface waters framed by picturesque islands and antique lighthouses. Like the proverbial tip of the iceberg, much of the Bay’s beauty lies beneath its surface, and it is readily accessible if we know where, and, more importantly, how to look for it.
Jerry Prezioso, Oceanographer, National Marine Fisheries Service, will present a free public lecture on how An Underwater Photographer Shoots Narragansett Bay. The lecture will take place in the Coastal Institute Auditorium on the äçÐÄvlogÃâ·ÑBÕ¾ Bay Campus in Narragansett on Tuesday, April 29, at Noon.
Prezioso will show the audience not just what some creatures of Narragansett Bay (and a few beyond the Bay!) look like, but talk about how he came to take those photos and how people might be able to find and observe some of this marine life themselves.
A resident of Narragansett, Prezioso first entered the field of oceanography through the Co-operative Education Program at Northeastern, where he was an undergrad. His first co-op job, as a freshman in 1968, was looking at plankton at a lab in Boothbay Harbor, ME, and he was hooked on marine science from that point on. He began diving while in Maine and started taking underwater photographs not long after so he could share what he was seeing underwater with his friends. He came to Rhode Island in 1974 to continue working with the National Marine Fisheries Service and has been diving and exploring our local waters ever since. Prezioso received his M.S. from the äçÐÄvlogÃâ·ÑBÕ¾ Graduate School of Oceanography in 1991.
The lecture will be followed by a Friends of Oceanography Annual Meeting in the Hazard Rooms of the Coastal Institute. The public is invited to attend and learn about Friends of Oceanography.
Established in 1985 to support and promote the activities of the äçÐÄvlogÃâ·ÑBÕ¾ Graduate School of Oceanography, Friends of Oceanography informs and educates the membership and the general public about the scientific, technological, and environmental research that takes place at GSO. The organization sponsors public lectures, open houses, marine-related mini-courses, science cruises on Narragansett Bay, and an annual auction. The Friends office is located in the Coastal Institute building on äçÐÄvlogÃâ·ÑBÕ¾s Narragansett Bay Campus. For information about Friends of Oceanography, call 874-6642.