If the sea is sick, we'll feel it. If it dies, we die. Our future and the state of the oceans are one.

When I write a scientific treatise, I might reach 100 people. When the 'National Geographic' covers a project, it communicates about plants and fish and underwater technology to more than 10 million people.

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

There's something missing about how we're informing the youngsters coming along about what matters in the world. We teach them the numbers and the letters, but we fail to communicate the importance of our connection to the living world.

The Exxon Valdez spill triggered a swift and strong response that changed policies about shipping, about double-hulled construction. A number of laws came into place.

The oxygen cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, the water cycle - all of these are linked to the existence of life in the sea.

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