Coastal & Marine Conservation

What’s it really like to be an engineer or a scientist? What do they really do all day? You’re about to find out! Meet the next generation of engineers and scientists in these profiles of young professionals, who may just inspire you to join them. Ayana Johnson fell in love with the ocean the moment she laid eyes on a coral reef at age five. Find out what it’s like to be a marine biologist. Watch the video

The most prevalent threats to reef ecosystems in Kenya are over-fishing, pollution and climate change. Kenya is one of four African nations with marine protected areas (MPAs) that exclude fishing within protected area boundaries. However, management plans for marine protected areas in Kenya lack measures to respond to threats emanating from outside of the MPA boundaries. Jennifer was hired to develop a new management system that offers strategies for adapting management objectives to respond to both internal and extern

Whale Trust, co-founded by Switzer Fellow Meagan Jones, supports research on whales and their marine environment. The organization is committed to bridging that research with public outreach, education and conservation.

Switzer Fellow Denny Takahashi-Kelso, Executive Vice President of Ocean Conservancy, the oldest U.S. based ocean conservation organization focusing on the long-range sustainability, productivity and biodiversity of the ocean, explains why this is a pivotal moment for the ocean and the human communities that depend on the ocean.

Switzer Fellow Amanda Martinez is a journalist, an intern at NPR and a science writing masters student at MIT. When she was offered the chance to join a team of scientists in the Gulf of Mexico, she used some of her Switzer funding to test and expand her new skills. Amanda shares steps that scientists can take to help journalists successfully tell the story of their research.