Making Waves in Ocean Science

In 2019, Erin Satterthwaite attended a planning meeting for the then-upcoming United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Looking around the room, Satterthwaite noticed how rare she was as a young professional — one of a handful out of hundreds of attendees. It was, Satterthwaite felt, unfortunate. “We're talking about a decade of ocean science. It seems that younger professionals are needed to make this a sustainable process,” she remembers thinking.

The next year, Satterthwaite joined California Sea Grant as an Extension Specialist to coordinate with the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI), the longest integrated marine ecosystem observing program in the world. Now entering its 76^th year, CalCOFI conducts quarterly cruises off Southern and Central California collecting data such as temperature, salinity, oxygen and zooplankton biomass to help map changes in the ocean. Satterthwaite soon began using her platform at CalCOFI to create and grow networks for early career professionals (ECOPs) in ocean research. “It gained much more momentum than I had anticipated,” she says. 

"Over 500 people signed up"

One example: Satterthwaite helped start an international network for ECOPs — defined as professionals who completed their last degree within the past decade — that has grown to 6,169 members in 163 countries, organized into 26 regional and national nodes. “In the U.S. alone over 500 people have signed up to stay in touch with each other,” says Satterthwaite. 

Such networks are needed, particularly in international policy, she says. “The sustainability field is a winding path and it takes a really long time to build up the relationships and trust to get involved in international processes.” The networks are open not just to scientists but also engineers, resource managers, practitioners, marine industry representatives and volunteers — “anyone doing ocean-related work,” Satterthwaite says. Mentorship programs pair young professionals across different cultures, and there are Slack groups and community-based discussion boards.

Much of that work grew from a survey that Satterthwaite helped organize to understand what obstacles young professionals face in different parts of the world. It reached more than 1,300 ocean science ECOPs across 108 nations  One clear finding: ECOPs in developing countries need more funding, such as grants for applied research or to attend conferences. “A diversity of voices will be the key to navigating global-, regional- and national-scale ocean issues during and after the implementation of the Ocean Decade,” Satterthwaite and her co-authors write in a paper on the survey that was recently published in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Journal of Marine Science.

Engaging young and soon-to-be professionals in CalCOFI

Satterthwaite has also leveraged CalCOFI itself to engage young and soon-to-be professionals on a more local level. CalCOFI is based on a partnership between NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The program’s research vessel travels up to 300 miles offshore to sample water, larval fish and zooplankton and survey seabirds and marine mammals. The program’s longevity means that researchers can pull up decades-old data to investigate questions no one had contemplated upon collection, Satterthwaite notes. Going back into the archive of samples, scientists have, for example, looked for the presence of microplastics and DDT in previous decades.

Students and volunteers can ride along on a CalCOFI research cruise — which lasts from two weeks up to a month — to immerse themselves in open-ocean fieldwork. The initiative has led to “many graduate student dissertations and postdoctoral analyses based on CalCOFI data,” says Satterthwaite. 

She has also led an interdisciplinary “CalCOFI Hackathon,” in which 51 students and professionals from various fields visualized data from the ocean surveys. And in 2023, California Sea Grant collaborated with CalCOFI to offer a Data Storytelling Internship, which trained two ECOPs in science communication and data visualization.

Satterthwaite’s diverse efforts on behalf of ECOPs have shown results. At CalCOFI’s annual conference, for example, young professionals now make up almost half of the registered participants. In the field of international ocean policy, PICES — an intergovernmental science organization that promotes and coordinates marine research in the North Pacific and adjacent seas — now has an advisory panel for ECOPs. After the global ECOP Programme was launched within the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, endorsed programs have established dedicated ECOP liaisons, and thousands of ECOPs are now directly involved in Decade Actions.

It’s not just the young ocean science professionals who will reap the benefits of this increased involvement. “Intergenerational diversity is central to achieving ocean sustainability outcomes that are globally fair, beneficial, and in the best interest of future generations,” write Satterthwaite and her co-authors in the ICES Journal of Marine Science paper. “ Bridging generational gaps and developing connections across disciplines, sectors, and cultures, are vital to develop “effective, sustainable solutions.”