While most of her classmates were preparing for the start of another academic year in early September, Emma Arsenault was preparing for the trip of a lifetime.
Emma, a fourth-year Marine Biology student, was the Canadian delegate for the program, which is run by the U.S. Department of State. Along with student delegates from 22 other coastal countries, Emma spent two weeks travelling from San Francisco to New Hampshire to Washington, D.C., learning about marine protection initiatives and policy.
Emma was first made aware of the opportunity through her involvement with Students on Ice, an educational polar expedition program that helped to spark her passion for the ocean as a high school student.
鈥淚鈥檓 part of (Students on Ice鈥檚) alumni network and I鈥檝e worked with them in a logistics capacity these last few years,鈥� Emma says. 鈥淭he U.S. Embassy reached out to them and said there was this huge opportunity, so I put my name forward.鈥�
Multiple perspectives
Emma says each stop on the trip provided a unique insight into how organizations at multiple levels are working to protect the ocean.
鈥淲e met in San Francisco and talked about marine and coastal protection strategies,鈥� Emma says. 鈥淭hey had some really awesome marine laboratories and Northern California has recently implemented some great protection strategies for some of their coastal environments.鈥�
In New Hampshire, the focus shifted to local initiatives.
鈥淲e got to participate in a beach cleanup with the community,鈥� says Emma. 鈥淚t was really cool to see the difference between the things that were happening at the state level in California as opposed to community-based initiatives in New Hampshire.鈥�
The final stop in the journey was the Youth Leadership Summit at Georgetown University, which included an opportunity to participate at the Our Ocean conference hosted by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Emma says the Washington portion of the trip made the biggest impact on her.
鈥淚t was an eye-opener. I didn鈥檛 know, and I don鈥檛 know if a lot of people know, what diplomacy looks like,鈥� she says. 鈥�(The conference) was quite a big show, but it also turned out to be quite constructive. Some states made some really big commitments to marine protection.
鈥淎nd it was even more valuable to learn from other young people around the world who are working at the community level. That, I think, is where ocean protection will have the biggest impact.
According to Emma, she and her fellow Our Ocean Youth Ambassadors were able to share their views while at the same time taking in information about the intersection of science and policy.
鈥淚 was there to bring my perspective as a Canadian working on the North Atlantic, because that鈥檚 the environment that I鈥檓 familiar with, and to bring what I鈥檝e learned as a Dalhousie student. But for the most part I was trying to be a sponge.鈥�
Blending science and policy
What she absorbed on the trip was a fair trade-off for the two weeks of missed classes, according to Emma. She adds that her professors were supportive of her participation, even though it has meant playing catch-up since her return.
鈥淚鈥檓 taking a full course load this semester, but all my profs said I couldn鈥檛 miss this,鈥� says Emma, who is also taking a minor in Political Science. 鈥淚t worked out and now I鈥檓 working double-time.鈥�
The Peterborough, Ontario native plans to complete her undergraduate degree in Marine Biology, but the trip reinforced her growing belief that her future lies in marine protection policy, rather than in science.
鈥淚 want to gear my future education to the policy side of things, as well as public education,鈥� Emma says. 鈥淭his experience really just solidified that.
鈥淭hat was a perspective that seemed to be shared by many of the youth ambassadors I met from other parts of the world, that (policy and education) is where they鈥檙e seeing the biggest impact.鈥�
That鈥檚 why Emma is strongly considering Dalhousie鈥檚 Marine Affairs Program for the next step in her education. 鈥淚 think it would be a way to integrate everything I鈥檝e learned,鈥� she says.
鈥淢y undergraduate degree makes me science-literate, and I think that鈥檚 a good way work in between science and policy.鈥�