Samantha Andrews is a marine ecologist, naturalist, professional science communicator, and founder of Ocean Oculus, a one-woman endeavour, supporting scientists, researchers, companies, NGOS, stakeholders, and everything in-between discover more about – and take better care of – this pale blue dot we call home. In today’s episode Samantha shares how she shifted her career from finance to ocean science, why she decided to pursue her PhD- and why she’s not giving up, and what science communication looks like for her, and how she’s helping others make the impact they were meant to.
Quick Links
The Channel Islands, Jersey
University of Exeter
Open University UK
Field work
Ecology
Ocean Oculus
Memorial University
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
Dynamic ocean management
Forage fish
Keystone species
Jersey Wonders
Show Notes
00:23 – Samantha grew up on Jersey, one of the Channel Islands. She describes what it was like growing up on an island, where she was always no more than 20 minutes from the ocean.
4:15 – Samantha didn’t begin studying marine science right after high school. She originally planned to study psychology at university. Samantha shares her decision-making process upon graduation and where she thought her career would go.
10:56 – At 27, Samantha decided she wanted to reconnect with work that made her feel excited and passionate, and so she started thinking again about university. Her time in New Zealand had encouraged her to think, “why not?” go back to school, despite the knowledge that she’d be older than the majority of other undergraduates.
17:03 – Samantha discusses what made her decide to continue her education with a master’s and subsequent PhD after getting her undergraduate degree from the University of Exeter.
21:02 – “It’s not procrastination when it’s science, right?” Samantha tells the story of the genesis of her online research endeavor Ocean Oculus.
26:34 – Ocean Oculus was a productive outlet for Samantha as she became “quite deflated with where we were going in the world.” She remarks on how all these wonderful scientific discoveries were being made, but the science was rarely being used to fix the world’s very real problems.
35:45 – In her PhD, Samantha is working on dynamic ocean management. Listen to her discuss what this means when it’s used in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
43:52 – Samantha is very honest about how ocean modeling doesn’t come naturally to her, and how that’s made her PhD quite difficult. She also talks about how it’s OK to acknowledge when you’re not good at something.
52:23 – Samantha and Kara talk about how all the professional skills an individual has acquired up until a career pivot are useful, even if they don’t seem quite relevant to the new field. Samantha uses the example of her time working in finance.
57:10 – If you had unlimited funding opportunities, what would you do? Samantha has a very relatable and charming initial response to this question. While she considers her more serious answer, she explains what a Jersey Wonder is for listeners.
1:00:42 – Samantha’s answer to the unlimited funding opportunity question involves building out the supporting arms of Ocean Oculus.
1:03:56 – The field story that Samantha chooses to share is one that always makes her laugh and involves a strange plant that may or may not have belonged to the carrot family.
1:08:33 – Samantha conservation ask is for listeners to consume less when possible, and to be informed, conscientious consumers.