Diving Deep: Chris Fischer’s Journey to Save Sharks and Bring Balance to Our Oceans

Kentucky to the World is excited to welcome Chris Fischer, OCEARCH Founder and Expedition Leader, home to Louisville for an exclusive live program on Monday, May 16, 2022, at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts’ Bomhard Theatre. 

As an explorer and disrupter, Chris Fischer grew up chasing fish and frogs around Kentucky. Across his life and work, Chris discovered his gift of seeing the “big picture,” creating solutions around that picture, and communicating those solutions in an accessible way to others. 

Through his passion for water and sea life, Chris created his collaborative vision for OCEARCH and  began connecting expert fishermen along with scientists about the endangerment of great white sharks and how the vulnerability of the species can disrupt the entire ocean's ecosystem. 

Chris began diving into this massive issue for our ocean’s apex predators. Sharks are the balance keepers of the ocean’s food chain and without them at the top, all other fish face the possibility of disappearing for generations to come. 

Since founding OCEARCH in 2007, Chris and his team have led 42 global expeditions aboard the M/V OCEARCH to collect previously unattainable research on our ocean’s giants such as their migrations, reproductive cycle, genetic status, diet, abundance, and more. 

Chris’ data-centric approach completely disrupts the research by making data collection and distribution collaborative, inclusive, and open sourced. This approach has inspired global ocean environmental protection policies with Chris working alongside presidents of several countries, including the U.S.

In the spirit of including a global audience in his work, the OCEARCH TRACKER launched in 2013, allowing nearly 3 million annual users to learn about sharks while tracking them across the planet in near-real-time. 

A graduate of Indiana University, Chris began his career as an explorer as host of the four-time Emmy Award-winning “Offshore Adventures” from 2001 to 2009 before founding OCEARCH. For his work, Chris has received numerous prestigious recognitions, including The Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Medal for Imagination in Exploration and the Nominee Trust 100 Award for top social innovators list.

Join us for this live event where you’ll hear from Chris in conversation with our special guest host and fellow Kentuckian Peter Schikler, Senior Counsel at New York City Law Department’s Environmental Law Division, about his global adventures alongside his crew as they dive in to find the solutions that will ensure a sea full of fish and fish sandwiches for many generations.

Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, our guest host Peter Schikler received his B.A. in Biology and Anthropology from Indiana University and an M.A. in Conservation Biology from Columbia University prior to obtaining his J.D. from New York Law School. 

Peter now resides in Brooklyn, New York and serves as senior counsel in the New York City Law Department’s Environmental Law Division where he represents New York City and its agencies on a range of environmental matters, including sustainability and resilience issues and compliance with environmental review and land use regulations.

Prior to his current role, Peter served in various legal positions in New York City including as an agency attorney with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and as the associate director of the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School. 

During his career Peter has worked at the American Museum of Natural History collecting molecular data used to study avian evolution, studied the conservation genetics of the Asian elephant in Sri Lanka, and written about U.S. fisheries management policy. 

COVID POLICY:

For this event, we will follow The Kentucky Center’s COVID guidelines.

Schedule of Events

Monday, May 16

Special Student-Centered Briefing Program Featuring Chris Fischer
Muhammad Ali Center at 4:30 p.m.

Students will see and hear a multimedia presentation from Chris Fischer, followed by an in depth Q&A session. To register your students and reserve their complimentary tickets for these programs, please email David Thurmond ASAP at dxthurmond@gmail.com. Please confirm your school’s or organization’s participation by Monday, May 2, include the expected number of student attendees and provide the names of chaperones. 

Main Speaker Series Public Program
Diving Deep: Chris Fischer’s Journey to Save Sharks & Bring Balance to Our Oceans
Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts’ Bomhard Theater at 6:30 p.m.

Networking Reception begins at 5:30 p.m. in the lobby prior to the live event. Our live speaker series program consists of an engaging conversation and interview with Chris followed by a Q&A session with him and members of the audience. Tickets are on sale now for purchase here at $30 per adult and $15 per student for the live program. 

Tuesday, May 17 

Special Student Program for Students & School-Aged Children
Kentucky Science Center at 10 a.m. & Noon

The Kentucky Science Center and Kentucky to the World are pleased to present Chris Fischer with 45-minute presentations that are free to the public and share a message of adventure, collaborative research, ocean sustainability, and access to seafood for all generations. Schools and groups can attend this presentation free of charge. Visit here toregister.