#077 - Marissa Baskett: How Math Can Help Save Our Oceans

About this episode

Marissa Baskett discusses how math and science can aid in restoring ocean ecosystems affected by climate change.

What do sea urchins, disappearing kelp forests, and coral gene editing have in common? In this episode, we sit down with UC Davis professor Marissa Baskett to explore how science can help restore and protect ocean ecosystems in a changing climate. She explains why kelp forests off the Northern California coast collapsed, how disease wiped out key predators like sea stars, and what scientists are doing now—like reintroducing predators, removing urchins, and even selecting heat-tolerant coral for future restoration. We also talk about how math and modeling help guide conservation decisions, and why working with local communities is key to success. If you care about the ocean and want to understand how real solutions come together, this episode is for you. For more information about this episode, see our website: https://www.discoveringacademia.com/episodes/marissa-baskett This presentation is a service of Discovering Academia, and all information presented is for commercial and informational purposes only. Discovering Academia provides no assurances as to the accuracy or completeness of the information presented and possesses no actual knowledge of any topic presented. Any opinions…

People in this episode

Hosts: Brent Valentine, Keller Kramer

Guest: Marissa Baskett

Topics covered

• ocean conservation
• math in science
• climate change
• ecosystem restoration
• community engagement

Keywords

• kelp forests
• sea urchins
• coral gene editing
• predator reintroduction
• ocean ecosystems

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UC Davis

Places: Northern California, oceans

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