Talks and shows

Oceanic enigma: Charting the unknown 95%

Dive into the mysteries of the deep with Schmidt Ocean Institute.

A glass octopus
Schmidt ocean institute

What lies hidden beneath the sea surface is one of the greatest mysteries on Earth. With alien landscapes, an immense variety of life forms and only 5% of it so far explored, the Ocean is the most fascinating place on our planet. 

The Schmidt Ocean Institute are hoping to increase this 5% with the sophisticated technology found on board its research ship, R/V Falkor, which is exploring the Oceans with state-of-the-art laboratories, an underwater robot reaching depths as far as 4,500m, and high-performing computing facilities. These free-to-use tools are allowing scientists and engineers internationally to collaborate and share their data, and even the public as underwater imagery from deep dives is livestreamed to a global audience.



Join Jyotika Virmani, executive director of the Institute, as she uncovers this new era of Ocean discovery providing us with unprecedented abilities to explore the wonderful world beyond our coastline like never before.

Ocean Watch is an hour-long screening of footage from the R/V Falkor, which will take place on Saturday, 27 January 2024. Ri members can attend this event for free. Attendees of this lecture will be provided a code to get 50% off the screening tickets. For more information about this screening, click here.

Event type

This is a theatre and livestream event for an adult audience, where the speakers and audience in our Theatre are joined by our audience online. 

By booking to attend events at the Royal Institution, you confirm that you have read and accept the Ri's event terms and conditions. You also agree to abide by our code of conduct, and help to create a great experience for yourself and your fellow participants. Please note that Eventbrite adds a small booking fee to the amount paid for each ticket option.

For any queries regarding this event please get in touch by phone 020 7409 2992 or email events@ri.ac.uk.

About the speaker

 Jyotika Virmani is an executive director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Before this, she was the Executive Director of Planet & Environment at XPRIZE and the Rainforest XPRIZE, a competition for innovations in biodiversity assessment technologies. She was also Executive Director of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE to spur innovations of unmanned and autonomous deep-sea technologies that will allow the global bathymetric community to map the seafloor by 2030. Embedded in this XPRIZE was a NOAA Bonus Prize for technologies that could detect a biological or chemical signal underwater and autonomously track it to its source. Dr. Virmani joined XPRIZE in 2014 as the Technical Director for the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE, a competition advancing pH sensor development to measure ocean acidification. Before joining XPRIZE, Dr. Virmani was the Associate Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography and a Senior Scientist at the UK Met Office

Virmani has a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the College of Marine Science, University of South Florida. As a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar, she earned a M.S. in Atmospheric Science from SUNY at Stony Brook. She also has a B.Sc. in Physics from Imperial College London and is an Associate of the Royal College of Science. She currently serves on the Catch the Next Wave Committee, the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System Federal Advisory Committee, the National Geographic Executive Committee for Research and Exploration, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Board, and is an External Advisor to the Seabed 2030 Ocean Frontiers Mapping Committee, and a member of the XPRIZE Climate Brain Trust and the World Economic Forum Global Future Councils. She is a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society and The Explorers Club, and a Member of the American Meteorological Society and American Geophysical Union.

Timing

Doors to the theatre will open at 6.45pm and the talk will begin at 7.00pm.

Accessibility

The event will take place on the first floor and there is step-free access from the street via lift.

The closest underground station is Green Park, which is step-free.

There is space at floor level in the theatre for wheelchair users.

Seating is usually unreserved for our events. If you and your group require seating reservations, please do let us know by emailing us at events@ri.ac.uk, and we’ll be more than happy to help.

Carers can receive a free ticket to an event by emailing events@ri.ac.uk.

Our theatre is equipped with an Audio Induction Loop. 

Covid guidelines

Face masks are no longer mandatory and wearing one in our Theatre and at other Ri events is at your discretion, however please do not attend the Ri if you are displaying Covid symptoms or, if you have tested, the result remains positive. Thank you for respecting other people and their choices, and for helping us keep all of our visitors and staff safe and well.

Event terms and conditions

The Royal Institution is part of the Amazon Affiliate Programme, and book links on this page may be affiliate links.

It won't cost you any extra, but as an Amazon Affiliate, the Ri will earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

All proceeds from our affiliate links help support the charitable work of the Ri.

Are you a patron of the Ri?

As a patron you are offered a number of complimentary tickets, please get in touch with your patron manager to discuss this.