Archaeology and the Future of Our Ocean Planet

Torben C. Rick, Curator of North American Archaeology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
For thousands of years, marine ecosystems and organisms played an important role in human evolution and ecology and continue to be a crucial source of food and wellbeing for people around the world. Despite some important signs of hope, decades or more of overfishing, climate change, habitat destruction, and numerous other processes have pushed many marine ecosystems today to a crisis point. Drawing on the archaeological record, Rick explores 10,000 years of human interactions with marine ecosystems to help understand the long-term relationships between people and the ocean. When integrated with modern environmental and biological perspectives, archaeology provides a framework for transcending contemporary environmental challenges and planning for a sustainable future. Elected in 2023, Rick represents Class V's section on Anthropology.