Climate Beacon Book Club: Life on the Rocks
Event Details
Special Event
July 10th 7 - 8PM
Virtual
Virtual
By The Climate Initiative
TCI’s Climate Beacon Book Club in partnership with the Women’s Aquatic Network and Back Cove Books present Juli Berwald in conversation with JD Reinbott to discuss Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs. Purchase your copy of Life on the Rocks from Back Cove Books to get 10% off when you use the code BEACON at checkout!
This event is free to attend, but donations are welcome to continue supporting the important ocean and climate action work done by The Climate Initiative and Women’s Aquatic Network!
About Juli Berwald:
Juli Berwald earned her doctorate in Ocean Science and is the author of Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone and Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs, which was a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize. She has also written for the New York Times, National Geographic, Science, Nature, and the Smithsonian, among others. She is the Ambassador to the Reefs in Tela, Honduras and President of the non-profit, Tela Coral, which studies the region’s unusually healthy reef.
About JD Reinbott:
Originally from New Jersey, JD has been obsessed with the ocean for as long as he can remember. He spent his childhood commandeering family vacations to ensure that they were somehow tied back to marine life. During his time as a Marine Science and Aquaculture/Aquarium Science student at the University of New England, he stumbled upon a coral biology course and the rest is history. Throughout his career as a coral reef biologist, JD has worked extensively around the globe: co-founding a coral restoration nonprofit (Marine Conservation Costa Rica) in Quepos, Costa Rica, managing the intern/volunteer programs at the Coral Restoration Foundation, and facilitating various forms of marine research at the Keys Marine Laboratory. JD is thrilled to be a part of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation where he oversees the Iconic Reef Guardians Program, empowering members of the Florida Keys community to take part in reef restoration efforts whilst subsequently creating stewards for these vital ecosystems.
About the book Life on the Rocks:
The story of the urgent fight to save coral reefs, and why it matters to us all. Coral reefs are a microcosm of our planet: extraordinarily diverse, deeply interconnected, and full of wonders. When they’re thriving, these fairy gardens hidden beneath the ocean’s surface burst with color and life. They sustain bountiful ecosystems and protect vulnerable coasts. Corals themselves are evolutionary marvels that build elaborate limestone formations from their collective skeletons, broker symbiotic relationships with algae, and manufacture their own fluorescent sunblock. But corals across the planet are in the middle of an unprecedented die-off, beset by warming oceans, pollution, damage by humans, and a devastating pandemic.
Juli Berwald fell in love with coral reefs as a marine biology student, entranced by their beauty and complexity. Alarmed by their peril, she traveled the world to discover how to prevent their loss. She met scientists and activists operating in emergency mode, doing everything they can think of to prevent coral reefs from disappearing forever. She was so amazed by the ingenuity of these last-ditch efforts that she joined in rescue missions, unexpected partnerships, and risky experiments, and helped rebuild reefs with rebar and zip ties.
Life on the Rocks is an inspiring, lucid, meditative ode to the reefs and the undaunted scientists working to save them against almost impossible odds. As she also attempts to help her daughter in her struggle with mental illness, Berwald explores what it means to keep fighting a battle whose outcome is uncertain. She contemplates the inevitable grief of climate change and the beauty of small victories.