When I was 12, we moved from New Jersey to Florida. The Gulf of Mexico was literally my backyard. Every day, I could see the ocean. At low tide I went out and played in seagrass meadows that used to come right up to the shore, filled with tiny seahorses, pipefish and soft corals. There was so much life! But then I witnessed the change, the loss of the shoreline, the loss of the mangrove trees, the loss of the seagrass meadows. Shallow bay areas were turned into parking lots.

The Earth is a tiny blue speck in a universe of unfriendly options.

All through college, I had frequently been the only girl in a science class - which wasn't such a bad deal.

I hope for your help to explore and protect the wild ocean in ways that will restore the health and, in so doing, secure hope for humankind. Health to the ocean means health for us.

We are taking way more out of the ocean than the ocean can replenish.

I have lots of heroes: anyone and everyone who does whatever they can to leave the natural world better than they found it.

Everyone has power. But it doesn't help if you don't use it.