“A Living Time Machine: Cuba’s Remarkable Ocean Ecosystems and the Hope They Offer Florida and the World”

David E. Guggenheim, Ph.D., President, Ocean Doctor and Director, Cuban Conservancy, Washington, D.C.

Guggenheim is founder and president of Ocean Doctor, a non-profit conservation organization in Washington, DC, where he is in his 16th year leading research and conservation efforts in Cuba focused on coastal communities and protecting coral reef ecosystems. His work has been featured on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper, on the PBS Nature series and on NPR.  While 50 percent of the Caribbean’s corals have vanished since 1970, many of Cuba’s marine ecosystems remain spectacularly healthy, a Jurassic Park-like experience teeming with endangered species seldom seen elsewhere in the Caribbean, including bountiful sharks and grouper…truly a living time machine. Dr. Guggenheim explores why Cuba’s ecosystems remain so healthy,  the threat posed by the “tsunami” of Americans now pouring into the island as relations normalize between Cuba and the U.S, and what is being done to ensure that Cuba avoids the mistakes made elsewhere in the Caribbean over the past half century.