Starfish Talk

Director of the Marine and Paleobiological Research Institute Fred Hotchkiss will present a lecture entitled Starfish and the Number Five at the Chilmark Public Library on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The talk features the mystery of the starfish’s five-part symmetry, common in the plant world but a rarity in the animal world.

A resident of Vineyard Haven, Mr. Hotchkiss founded the institute in 2004 with a mission of preservation of our world fossil heritage through education, research and public outreach. He has a degree in earth sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and did graduate study in evolutionary biology and paleontology at Yale University.