Acorn

Over the years, Professor of Biology Leland Pollock had lost count of how long he has been at Drew University. "We on the faculty have a deceptive sense of time," Pollock said to the small group of faculty and students who attended his lecture on Wednesday night.

"Every fall, more than a quarter of the student body has turned over, and you lose track of how many times you go around the academic merry-go-round." Pollock, who will retire at the end of the semester after 33 years on the Drew "merry-go-round," spoke as part of the Student Government Association's Last Lecture Series.

In his talk, Pollock discussed the major scientific advancements made since he started at Drew that were important to the field of marine biology.

These included the theory that the extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago was caused by asteroids entering the Earth's atmosphere, and the discovery of deep-sea heat vents located about one and a half miles below the ocean's surface.

"These vents are an oasis of life and are home to some bizarre organisms," Pollock said. "The finding that in frigid temperatures and in darkness there is an ecosystem of organisms revolutionized the understanding of the deep sea."

Pollock also talked about environmental issues such as global warming and the impact it could have on marine ecosystems.

Since teaching the tropical marine ecology class which takes Drew students to Belize every other year, Pollock has been particularly interested in the role of temperature changes in coral bleaching, a problem that could be devastating to world's coral reefs.

"The race is on to protect the health of corals," he said.

Professor of Biology Sara Webb attended the lecture and was impressed with Pollock's ability to vividly describe marine ecology without using a computer or chalkboard.

"He has always been recognized as one of the most outstanding teachers at Drew," she said. "And his audience understood why after listening to him lecture."

Pollock finished his talk by saying that because of new technologies, he believes that the next 30 years will bring even more scientific advancements in ecology than the past 30 years.

"I am looking forward to coming back years from now and hearing my students talk about the new things they have learned," he said.

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