Two of San Diego’s greatest scientific treasures are teaming up for the planet. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography have announced a formal partnership through the Agile Restoration & Conservation Hubs (ARCH) initiative, combining more than 200 years of scientific experience to protect biodiversity around the world.
The collaboration focuses on three big ideas. First, biobanking: scientists will develop techniques such as live cell culture and cryopreservation to preserve the genetic diversity of marine life, including fish, invertebrates, microbes and seaweeds. Zoo scientists will share their five decades of biobanking expertise with Scripps researchers, starting with the threatened kelp forests right off San Diego’s coast.
Second, a pioneering “digital twin” of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s Biodiversity Reserve. This intricate digital replica combines long-term observational data, in-the-field monitoring and AI-driven tools to simulate how climate events could affect biodiversity, giving scientists a powerful new way to predict and respond to environmental threats.
The partnership also opens the door for students and faculty to receive hands-on training in cutting-edge conservation science. It was recently presented at the SXSW tech conference in Austin, Texas, on a panel titled “Can Science Safeguard Earth’s Wildlife?” – and San Diego is leading the answer.
Photo: Bruce D. Lightner, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
