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Kaitlyn Lowder, PhD: Decapods, Global Ocean Policy, and Enabling (#67)

kaitlyn lowder

As a senior program associate with The Ocean Foundation, Kaitlyn Lowder  supports the International Ocean Acidification Initiative. Despite growing up in a landlocked desert, Kaitlyn always knew she wanted to become a marine biologist.

She pursued her dream of becoming a marine scientist, and was the recipient of the NOAA Hollings Scholarship as well as the Knauss Fellowship Kaitlyn also presented at two COP events, and succeeded in her efforts in getting “ocean” in the Paris Agreement.

Connect with Kaitlyn: Twitter|website

Quick Links

National Geographic Magazine
Western Washington University
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Spiny Lobster
Knauss Fellowship
Hollings Scholar
COP 21
The Paris Agreement
COP 23
COP 26
GOA-ON box
Goal 14.3.1
Equi-Sea
The Ocean Foundation Instagram
TOF Twitter

Show Notes

00:15 Growing up in the pure desert in Las Vegas, Nevada, Kaitlyn discovered and grew her love for the ocean in the local library. Initially, she thought she wanted to discover a new species, which has evolved as she continued her career.

2:55 why go to western washington state? The school resonated with her and had a great marine lab. She also dual majored with two seemingly disparate majors: biology and english. Kaitlyn explains why there really is a lot of overlap between the two majors and why it was such a brilliant choice on her part. Because marine biology is such a diverse field, you can really find what speaks to you from grant writing to fisheries statisticians.

7:10 Marine Biology is typically regarded as an “underpaid” career as a whole. Kaitlyn has noticed that this isn’t always the case, particularly those that are higher ranked in the federal levels.

10:20 Crustacean research and ocean acidification. How lobsters and crabs are dealing with ocean acidification- they’re surprisingly hardy and more able to handle the changing oceans better than their sessile counterparts.

15:00 Financial support during and after school is important. Kaitlyn shares how she helped to fund herself through the Hollings Scholar and Knauss Fellowship and what each of these required and looked like for her.

22:41 Conference of the Parties is full of government leaders, NGO, reporters and scientists. Kaitlyn speaks about the two COP events that she’s gone to and the important agenda that she was successful in pushing: getting the word ‘ocean’ in the Paris Agreement. COP26 is happening 

33:05 The importance of local scale in affecting global agendas. Global climate change action plans take cues from local initiatives. Kaitlyn talks about her role at the Ocean Foundation: an initiative to assess ocean acidification worldwide. This includes training and providing supplies such as the  Global Acidification Observing Network in a box kit- Global

40:88 Kaitlyn’s favorite things about the ocean? Thinking about the things that we’ve discovered and what we’ve yet to discover. From worms, to crabs to the deep sea, there’s so many possibilities. We’re talking about living on Mars, but what a bummer it would be to live on a planet without the ocean!

41:15 The difference between government and nonprofit. Flexibility, the ability to collaborate more freely with more people are all reasons in favor for nonprofits. Academia is a little more open-ended, and time out of work is more respected in the nonprofit world.

47:29 Kaitlyn’s field story: studying fiddler crabs during university and how NOT to use a quadrat.

50:41 The ask? Take a dive into a topic that you know only a surface-level bit about. Look at those who have more in-depth knowledge of the topic and that share diverse voices. Platforms can get focused on one way to look at something, or only highlight the work their organization does, so we can all benefit from diverse voices that we follow and learn from.

1 thought on “Kaitlyn Lowder, PhD: Decapods, Global Ocean Policy, and Enabling (#67)”

  1. Pingback: Increasing Awareness to Drive Change - Our Work in Ocean Literacy

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