Photo: The Ocean Heroes Network in New Orleans

Ocean conservation was front and center this week, and what struck me (Monica) over the course of the week and numerous virtual events was how many emerging leaders there are in the ocean community.  Young people like Daniela Fernandez, who runs the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, an organization she started while in college that now incubates ocean problem-solving start-up companies led by other young people — she has raised millions of dollars to get them off the ground.  Or the young leaders recognized at the Margaret Davidson memorial panel at Capitol Hill Oceans Week, that featured rising stars in business and academia like Dr. Megan Morikawa, Director of Sustainability at the Iberostar Group (a family-owned Spanish hotel chain 8 million guests with 80% of the hotels sited on the coasts) who leads a team of 12 scientists working for the company to eliminate pollution, serve only sustainable seafood and restore coral reefs; and Juan Mayorga, a Marine Data Scientist with the Pristine Seas Project at National Geographic, who is using data to find the best places to create marine parks all over the world.  And today four more up and coming ocean leaders who are still in their teens, such as Seyi Peace Moejoh of Nigeria who is working to keep plastic out of the ocean, are speaking about the work they do on behalf of the Ocean Heroes Network, that trains and funds young people to undertake ocean conservation projects around the globe.   Like the climate movement, the ocean conservation community has a wave of young leaders who are already making a difference and inspiring others to do more to conserve the blue of our blue planet.  This week, we salute them!

To Go Deeper:  If you are a young person who wants to dive into ocean conservation, or you know one, click here to register for the 2020 Ocean Heroes Virtual Bootcamp for 11-18-year-olds that takes place from June 26-July 1.