Oceanography | Marine Science and Ocean Stories

Plastic is everywhere. We know that. But what can we actually do about it? In this episode of Oceanography, host Clark Marchese speaks with Dr. Anja Brandon, Director of Plastics Policy at Ocean Conservancy, to work backwards through the lifecycle of plastic and ask which solutions can actually make a difference.

Starting with plastic already in the ocean, they explore why targeted cleanups still matter before moving upstream to recycling, reuse systems, product design, Extended Producer Responsibility, reductions in single-use plastics, and policies designed to turn off the plastic tap altogether. They also look at where negotiations for a global UN plastics treaty stand and what needs to happen next.

From the plastic bottle on the beach to the systems that produced it in the first place, this episode is about moving beyond awareness of plastic pollution and toward what we can actually do about it.

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Episode Guests: Dr. Anja Brandon

Visit Dr. Brandon’s website, follow on Instagram @plasticfreeanja, or connect on LinkedIn

Review Dr. Brandon’s publications on Google Scholar

Visit the Ocean Conservancy website and get involved here

Listen to Plastic Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and find our episode on the Plastics Treaty: Busan and Beyond - A UN Treaty on Plastics

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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Plankton made life on Earth possible. So why do we know so little about them? In this episode of Oceanography, Clark speaks with Vincent Doumeizel, Senior Adviser on the Oceans to the United Nations Global Compact and author of The Power of Plankton. Together, they dive into the extraordinary world of organisms drifting through our oceans, from their role in producing oxygen and shaping evolution to their influence on the carbon cycle, marine food webs, and ocean health.

They also explore how new tools like environmental DNA, satellites, and AI are transforming plankton research, why plankton remain largely absent from environmental policy, and how understanding this mostly invisible ecosystem could reveal new ways to protect our oceans and our planet.

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Episode Guests: Vincent Doumeizel

Find the book, The Power of Plankton

Read the Plankton Manifesto

Connect with Vincent Doumeizel on LinkedIn or follow on social media @theseaweedrevolution

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese 

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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How do we measure the ocean? Nicolas Pade, executive director of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre, joins Oceanography to explore the technologies making ocean observation possible, from satellites and autonomous floats to biological sensors, imaging and AI. We examine what scientists can already measure, why marine biodiversity remains so difficult to observe, and how individual data points become baselines, models and predictions. Grounded in Blue Tech Europe 2026, the conversation also reveals what it takes to move an idea from the laboratory into an observing system operating at scale.

Continue the conversation on Green Frequency with the companion episode, What Does Ocean Technology Need From Us?

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Episode Guests: Nicolas Pade

Visit the EMBRC website or follow the EMBRC on LinkedIn

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese 

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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What does it mean to be queer in oceanography? In this special episode, nine LGBTQ+ scientists and ocean professionals share, in their own words, what it has meant to build lives and careers around the sea. Their work stretches from phytoplankton, deep-sea food webs, marine bioacoustics, and microbial ecology to ocean acidification, coastal pollution, fisheries, and marine protected areas. Across very different lives and disciplines, certain experiences begin to echo.

They remember the first queer scientist who made another future imaginable. They reflect on joy, friendship, and uncertainty aboard research vessels; the daily calculations surrounding visibility and safety; and the mentors, labmates, and chosen communities that helped them find their place in science. They also consider what universities, laboratories, and research leaders can do to make ocean fieldwork and life at sea safer and more inclusive.

But Queer Voices in Oceanography is not only a conversation about barriers. It is a portrait of nine people who love the ocean and have built their lives around understanding and protecting it. Together, their stories reveal why representation matters, what becomes possible when scientists can bring their whole selves to their work, and how the people who once needed to see a queer scientist are becoming the people a younger generation can see.

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Episode Guests: 

Dr. Erin Jones

Jacob Snyder

Lee Miller

Jamie Blatter

Dr Jesus Alcazar Trevino 

Nicolas Storie

Dr. Michael Henson

Dr. Marina Sanz-Martín

Dr. Tristan Mckenzie

To connect with more queer scientists visit 500 Queer Scientists

Episode Transcript  and more information on the Pine Forest Media website

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese 

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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Not every ocean story gets heard. Ocean science and conservation work happens around the world, but research does not automatically reach the public, policymakers, or even other parts of the ocean community. So what determines which stories break through, and who helps important information travel further?

Giacomo Abrusci, founder of Seven Seas Media, joins Oceanography for a conversation about ocean communication, science media, and the people working to connect research with wider audiences. Seven Seas Media has spent more than a decade lowering barriers to participation in ocean conservation, publishing contributors from diverse regions, disciplines, and career stages.

The conversation explores why some environmental stories attract attention while others are overlooked, how independent media can connect silos within ocean conservation, and why accessibility, editorial independence, and long-form storytelling matter for science communication.

It also turns to the High Seas Treaty, conservation success stories, the realities of environmental decline, and the difference between optimism and agency. What does meaningful ocean action look like when no individual can solve a global problem alone?

From scientists and journalists to lawyers, designers, doctors, and community advocates, ocean conservation needs many kinds of expertise. Whatever your skills are, there may be a place for them in protecting the ocean.

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Episode Guests: Giacomo Abrusci

Visit the Seven Seas Media website, connect with them on LinkedIn or follow their YouTube channel. 

Connect with Giacomo on LinkedIn

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese 

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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Not long ago, the race to catch fish was pushing some U.S. fisheries toward collapse. Fishing seasons became shorter, boats went out in dangerous conditions, and fishermen, scientists, regulators, and conservationists often saw one another as enemies. So how did they begin working together?

Amanda Leland, executive director of Environmental Defense Fund and co-author of Sea Change, tells the story of the unlikely coalition that helped transform American fisheries management. Using Gulf red snapper as a case study, she explains how catch shares helped replace the race to fish with a system that gave fishermen greater flexibility and a direct stake in healthier fish populations. The conversation explores science, monitoring, livelihoods, trust, and the early mistakes that shaped better programs, offering a hopeful but hard-won lesson: lasting ocean conservation often begins by working with the people who depend on the resource most.

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Episode Guests: Amanda Lealand

Connect with Amanda Lealand on LinkedIn

Find Amanda’s Book, Sea Change

Learn more about the work of the Environmental Defense Fund

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese 

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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 Satellites can reveal what is happening at sea. SkyTruth founder John Amos explains how seeing previously hidden oil slicks from space changed the course of his career, and why he believes environmental data should be free and public. The conversation follows satellite imagery, AIS vessel tracking, and machine learning into tools such as Global Fishing Watch and Cerulean, which make fishing activity and ocean pollution easier to study and respond to. It also examines the limits of satellite ocean monitoring: observation does not automatically prove illegal fishing, coverage remains uneven, and much of the high seas still goes unseen. This is ocean conservation built to move from evidence to policy and action. 

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Episode Guests: John Amos

Visit the Sky Truth website and connect with them on LinkedIn

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese 

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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Naming ocean life is the first step toward protecting it. In a live conversation with his former professor, host Clark Marchese asks marine biologist Dr. Manuel Caballero Gutiérrez how many species live in the sea and why the answer remains uncertain. The episode follows marine taxonomy through deep-sea expeditions, DNA analysis, museum collections, and formal species descriptions, connecting species discovery with marine biodiversity, extinction risk, and conservation.

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Episode Guests: Dr. Manuel Callebar Gutierrez

Browse Dr. Callabar Gutierrez's publications on Research Gate

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese 

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Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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What happens at the deepest points of the ocean? This week on Oceanography, we’re sharing a special feed drop episode from Deep Sea Pod, hosted by Thomas Linley and Alan Jamieson — two scientists many of you may already recognize from previous Oceanography episodes like What Is the Deep Sea Even Like? and Ocean Trenches Explained.

In this episode, Professor Alan Jamieson takes listeners on a deep dive into the hadal zone: the deepest and most extreme region of the ocean, including the massive trenches that extend nearly 11 kilometers beneath the surface. The conversation explores how scientists study these remote environments, what kinds of organisms survive under immense pressure, the history of deep trench exploration, and why the hadal zone remains one of the last great frontiers in marine science.

If you enjoy the episode, be sure to check out Deep Sea Pod using the link in the episode description.

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Episode Guests: Alan Jamieson and Thomas Linley

Listen to Deep Sea Pod

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Where does climate change stand as 2026 unfolds? This Green Frequency crossover steps back from the ocean to assess the wider climate system. Climate scientist Dr. Claudio Piani and student activist Averie Gannon examine global emissions, the Paris Agreement, renewable energy progress, and why every fraction of a degree still matters. It is a grounded climate change 2026 briefing on what is improving, where the gaps remain, and why climate action is still consequential.

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Episode Guest: Dr. Claudio Piani 

Special thanks to the American University of Paris

Our World In Data - CO2 emissions, temperature, and per capita trends.

The Scientific American - Global Average Temperature Targets

International Renewable Energy Agency - The Cost of Renewable Energy

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Hosted by Clark Marchese and Averie Gannon

Audio Editing by Clark Marchese, Video Editing by Oscar Padula

Videography and Set Design by Le Studio Du Passage

Cover Art by Laurel Wong

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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