How To Protect The Ocean

The last 5 decades have been a rough one for the science field and it doesn't look like it's going to get better. Politicians and fringe groups are denying climate change and the scientific process around various tools to help protect people. But on the other hand, it seems as though there are more STEM programs popping up in schools at the high school and post-secondary school levels. So my quest...

Dr. Milton Muldrow Jr., Director of Natural Science Programs at Wilmington University (Delaware) joins me on the podcast today to discuss how synthetic biology can play a role in protecting the ocean.  Milton talks about his career and journey balancing multiple jobs and opportunities with a family that led him to land a role that can help students solve ocean challenges.  Milton's website: https:...

I launched this podcast to help people understand what is happening in the ocean and how they can help so I can stay connected to the ocean and its conservation. But I did not know that I would reach this many people when I started and it makes me want to do more in science communication.   In this episode, I am going to tell you the milestone I hit and why I want to continue to do the podcast...a...

Explaining climate change is not a simple exercise, especially when there is so much misinformation floating around the web, and some times the material can be complex to explain, but there are ways to explain how climate change is affecting an iconic animal such as the sea turtle to get people's attention.   In this episode, I am going to explain how baby sea turtles can be used to explain how cl...

Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are beautiful creatures and they display a number of different behaviours that we often like to watch. The behaviours are usually friendly ones such as bow riding or breaching the water giving us a spectacular show. But cetaceans are wild animals and being in the wild means every species needs to survive that is why researchers were not surprised after o...

Canada just passed a law to ban 6 types of single-use plastics across the nation over the next 3 years in an unprecedented move to curb plastic waste, but some people think that Canada can do more, including Oceana. I am going to talk about how Oceana Canada thinks Canada can reduce plastic even more and I want to ask the question, is it too much?   Link to campaign: https://act.oceana.org/page/10...

The International Seabed Authority, which is responsible for overseeing the development of deep-sea mining in international waters AND protecting the ocean met to negotiate a set of regulations to determine if deep-sea mining can proceed. But scientists and environmentalists involved in the process are worried about transparency and revealing that the process is not transparent at all.   In this e...

When I speak to people about their careers in Marine Science and Conservation, I can sense how badly they want a job and build their careers. It's hard to describe how I can notice it, but if you have it then go after it. But there are many of you who lack the motivation to fight for a position to get what you want. You have to show that you have a passion for this field in order to be successful....

A news article revealed that Kylie Jenner uses her private jet to fly 17 minutes to do daily chores such as grocery shopping to avoid traffic in LA. A sustainability firm based in the UK dug deeper to produce a list of the worst private jet offenders that were celebrities, but are we putting the blame in the right place? Celebrities are easy targets to receive hate; however, there was a report pub...

A Greenland shark was found in the Caribbean Sea, surprising the science world and it begs the overall question: Have they always been there? But more research is needed to answer a number of questions. It also reminds us all that we know nothing of the deep sea and maybe we should hold off on opening up deep-sea mining since we don't really know the damage we could cause.   In this episode of the...

Three episodes ago, I discussed how to speak up for the ocean if you are not a scientist. I suggested following specific scientists on social media to get accurate and recent science and conservation information. I had a few people contact me over Instagram to ask if I know where they could get more information on science and conservation in their area. A great question indeed and that seems like...

Every year I go into Shark Week with a positive mindset in hope that it will provide some great programs and some great cinematography and I would like to hope that it won't play into the fear-mongering, but that was not the case for the first news piece that I saw from CNN (who owns Discovery). A clear promotional video starts off with fear of shark sightings and bites then into one of the dumbes...

Shark week is back and over this week you will see some great shots of different species of sharks and some interesting behaviours, but you probably won't see much talk on the conservation of sharks and you might hear some misinformation on the species. You can take advantage of Shark Week by informing your followers (and maybe new followers) on shark conservation and where we need to focus on to...

Science plays an important part in understanding the trends in the ocean whether they are positive or negative and scientists also are critical in communicating their work so people can be aware of the trends, but people think that only scientists can talk about science and that is not true; therefore, by the end of this episode of the Speak Up For The Ocean Blue, I hope to convince you that you c...

The Mississippi Delta is one powerful river that drains a large portion of the rivers in the US and two provinces in Canada, yet there are few people who know how powerful the river can be and how the land at the mouth of the Mississippi changes depending on the action that is taken by human alteration. Hakai Magazine wrote a great article on how the Mississippi River is changing and what can be d...

Sharks have had a bad reputation for decades that have lead to their harm and lack of protection for a long time, but more videos and articles are surfacing that include love for sharks. But could all of this love be dangerous for shark populations as well?   Sign up to find out about the audio Ocean Conservation Careers members group: https://bit.ly/38ak7Z8   Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3NmYvs...

I recently had the opportunity to interview wildlife science communicator, Forrest Galante, for my other podcast I cohost called Beyond Jaws and during the interview Forrest taught me a lot about being a science communicator through his own journey. Therefore, I am going to share some interesting tips that I picked up from Forrest that I will use as a science communicator and that you could use in...

There is a huge push to move away from fossil fuels and move toward renewable energy to help reduce climate change, but politicians and the fossil fuel industry are always pushing for more oil and gas drilling to help the economy; therefore, authors are the centre for American Progress laid out 4 reasons why the Biden Administration should not expand offshore drilling in the proposed 5-year plan h...

Government decisions whether they are from the courts, congress, senate, or the white house can inspire people to take up the arm of conservation by seeking out a job and building a career to protect the environment, but going back to school to get a science degree may not lead you to the type of change that you want. Building a career in conservation takes planning; therefore, I will teach you wh...

The US Democrats have control of Congress, the senate, and the white house and they are all on the same page about climate action, but the US Supreme Court is Republican-dominated and they have made a decision that undermines the Clean Air Act and the ability for the EPA to regular emissions from the fossil fuel industry. Therefore, it's time for the government to step up and make laws that will b...

I've done some work with mining companies in Ontario before as I would run studies to ensure the companies were not harming the surrounding water bodies, but during my time as a private consultant, I heard some really bad stories about mining companies harming local areas and people with toxic spills. Therefore, I was initially worried when I saw Tesla and Nickel Mine in a recent headline on Monga...

When I grew up, I wanted to be a marine biologist. I had this dream that I would work in a small Pacific Islands doing marine science and conservation, but that was probably a form of parachute science and that can hurt marine conservation outcomes. Parachute science happens more often than you think and there is now a call to build in more equity in marine conservation by including local communit...

As long as I can remember protecting the ocean has always been my number one priority Ocean conservation and the action takes time and work from many different fields and it requires the dedication of many men and women from around the world; however, it is very difficult to focus on conserving the ocean when other human rights are being taken away and need more focus.   In this episode of the Spe...

We have a plastic pollution problem in this world and we can't solve it unless countries put in policies to ban single-use plastics, but what will a ban look like. In this episode, I am going to describe how Canada is going to ban single-use plastics as soon as December 2022.   Link to Press Release: https://bit.ly/3NmDFsi   Sign up to find out about the audio Ocean Conservation Careers members gr...

There need to be more conversations about the ocean on the web and there are plenty of opportunities to start your science communication journey, but people still aren't getting started. Therefore, I am going to tell you the different ways how you can get started in science communication today.   Sign up to find out about the audio Ocean Conservation Careers members group: https://bit.ly/38ak7Z8  ...