Wake Audubon Meeting: Antarctic Penguins: Past, Present and Future

Wake Audubon Monthly Meeting:
Antarctic Penguins: Past, Present and Future
(Meeting is In Person and Zoom)

Time: Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Nature Research Center, 121 W. Jones St., Raleigh, 4th floor conference room
Location: In-person + Zoom
Place: In-person + Virtual

• Location: NC Museum of Natural Sciences: Nature Research Center, 121 W Jones St, Raleigh, NC - 4th floor meeting room

Park (for free after 6:30 pm) and walk to the main museum entrance on Jones Street, just to the right of the giant globe. Since the NCSM is closed at night, someone will be at the door ONLY from 7 to 7:45 to let you in, so be on time. Take the elevator to the fourth floor meeting room. The east-facing entrance to the "old wing" of the museum will not be used. If you feel unwell, please stay home and enjoy our presentation over Zoom.
https://www.zoom.us/join
zoom

• Meeting code: 831 3786 5298
• Password: 4Birds

Topic: Dr. Steve Emslie will provide an overview of penguin ecology in Antarctica with a
synopsis of his research and the impacts of climate change that he has witnessed in over 30 years
of work there. Five species of penguins breed in Antarctica but only two are endemic, the Adélie
and the Emperor Penguin. Dr. Emslie will describe the ecology and breeding biology of
these two species and the threats they are currently undergoing. The Adélie Penguin, the most
abundant species in Antarctica, is also an excellent indicator species for the marine environment,
past and present. This species also has the longest fossil record of any seabird in the Ross Sea
region of Antarctica that allows stable isotope, ancient DNA, and radiocarbon analyses of well-
preserved tissues extending from hundreds to thousands of years old. This record is providing
insights on the responses by the Adélie Penguin to climate change in the past, allowing
predictions of their responses in the future as we continue to see dramatic changes in the
Antarctic environment. Recent findings in the Ross Sea also will be presented. Dr. Emslie’s
research is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation and collaboration with a
tour ship company, Heritage Expeditions in New Zealand
Speaker: Dr. Steve Emslie is a marine ornithologist and professor in the Department of Biology and
Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington. He studies not only living seabirds,
but also the fossil record of birds and their paleoecology. He first went to Antarctica in 1991 to
help with penguin and skua research at King George Island and soon began developing his own
research program, especially on the Adélie Penguin. Using a variety of interdisciplinary
techniques, Dr. Emslie and his students have been investigating the ecology and diet of these
penguins, past and present, and the impact of climate change by sampling well-preserved and
often mummified remains from the cold, dry Antarctic environment that range in age from
hundreds to thousands of years old. He also has designed and teaches an undergraduate course
on Antarctica, ‘Antarctic Ecology, Geology, History, and Policy’ (BIO 367) and with his
students has developed K-12 curricula on polar studies that are available on his website, along
with blogs from his previous research trips, at www.uncw.edu/penguins.

Location: In-person + Zoom
Place: In-person + Virtual

• Location: NC Museum of Natural Sciences: Nature Research Center, 121 W Jones St, Raleigh, NC - 4th floor meeting room

Park (for free after 6:30 pm) and walk to the main museum entrance on Jones Street, just to the right of the giant globe. Since the NCSM is closed at night, someone will be at the door ONLY from 7 to 7:45 to let you in, so be on time. Take the elevator to the fourth floor meeting room. The east-facing entrance to the "old wing" of the museum will not be used. If you feel unwell, please stay home and enjoy our presentation over Zoom.
https://www.zoom.us/join
zoom

• Meeting code: 831 3786 5298
• Password: 4Birds
  = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

We hope you will help us by joining Wake Audubon and National Audubon!
[http://wakeaudubon.org/get-involved/join/](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://wakeaudubon.org/get-involved/join/&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw2K5XE7unl2s2pNjfjs_WtO)

*Last updated 2026-04-21 by Beegle
WATCH for updates