PORT ANGELES — Richard Osborne, an expert in communication among orcas, will present the final Studium Generale lecture of the academic year at 12:35 p.m. today.
The lecture in the Little Theater at Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., is free and open to the public.
The endangered Southern Resident orca population that frequents the marine waters off of the North Olympic Peninsula has been the focus of a state-wide task force set up by Gov. Jay Inslee to address their eminent threat of extinction.
As a scientist who has studied this population since the late 1970s, and as a member of one of the working groups of the Orca Task Force, Osborne will share his insights on why this population of whales is so special and what he thinks will need to happen for them to survive.
Osborne is currently the aquatic program manager with the University of Washington Olympic Natural Resources Center in Forks.
He also serves as the science director for the Coast Salmon Partnership, and the Coordinator of the Olympic Region Harmful Algae Bloom Monitoring Partnership.
Prior to moving with his family to Joyce in 2007, he was the research curator at The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor and its executive director.
During his 30 years living in the San Juan Islands, Osborne primarily studied orca behavior and acoustics and helped pioneer the Orca Adoption Program, the Soundwatch Boater Education Program, and coordinate the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
From 2002 to 2006, he also served as a lecturer and independent investigator at the UW Friday Harbor Labs.
Osborne received his bachelor’s degree from Evergreen State College, his master’s from Western Washington University and his doctorate in physical geography and resource management from the University of Victoria where his thesis focused on the historical ecology and management of the Southern Resident orca population.
For more information, contact Kate Reavey at kreavey@pencol.edu.
