Radically Expand Coastal Ocean Research through Sensors
Transcriber: Juling Sia
Reviewer: David DeRuwe
Have you ever wondered how it is we
know what we know about the world?
Why is it, for example, that we can send
a mass spectrometer thousands, millions,
how many miles, so many miles
into space to land on Mars,
and that instrument can measure
the elemental composition of the rocks
and soils, and then we can beam
those data back to Earth?
And we’ve been doing that since the 1970s.
Or think about the fact that we
can send a submersible down
to the bottom of the ocean,
and it can float around
and beam back video
of beautiful ocean creatures,
and scientists can sit
at their desks and look at it,
and you and I can sit on our computers
and watch the scientists “ooh and ah”
over the beautiful new
creature that they found.
We all know that science
and technology are intimately linked,
and when we have technological advances,
we also have scientific advances.
However, access
to technology is not equal,
and there are many people
who don’t have access
to all of the amazing technological
resources that some people have.
This is a problem.
It’s a problem that wakes me up at night.
It’s a problem that gets
me up at 3:00 a.m. sometimes.
It’s a problem because we
know from lots of different studies
that having a diverse group
work on a project
ultimately results in the best results.
But if we are using technology,
and the cost of technology
as a gatekeeper to who can ask
and answer scientific questions,
then we are not getting the entire view
of the world that we should have.
My passion is for coastal ecosystems,
and I kind of want your passion
to be for coastal ecosystems too.
So let’s give you a few facts which you
can just keep in your back pocket, OK?
We are a coastal civilization.
Why is that?
Well, because we rely
on coastal ecosystems,
and we have done so for millennia,
and if we have any hope
of dealing with climate change,
then we’re going to need coastal
ecosystems now more than ever.
Over three billion people live
within 100 kilometers of the coast,
with one billion of those people living
just 10 meters above the high tide line.
Coastal ecosystems are profoundly
important for our global economy,
and each year they add
somewhere between three
and six trillion dollars to that economy.
We rely on coastal
ecosystems for nutrition -
nutrition from finfish and shellfish.
In the US alone, 85 percent of the fish
that we eat comes from coastal ecosystems.
And of course, we enjoy them
because we like to recreate there -
kayak, swim, surf, walk along the beach
with your loved one.
We also, many of us, have deep
cultural and spiritual connections
to the ocean through coastal ecosystems.
Are you convinced yet? Maybe? OK.
There are other benefits
that you may not be familiar with
that are profoundly important,
especially now.
Many of the coastal ecosystems
that we need do wonderful things
like protect people from storm surge.
They filter pollutants,
and they sequester carbon.
You may have heard of this
before: blue carbon?
It’s a big thing right now,
and it should be.
There are big prizes out there
being offered, $100 million or so,
to figure out how to sequester carbon.
Here’s the answer:
rebuild these ecosystems.
Marine systems are really good
at sequestering carbon, especially these:
tidal marshes, seagrass
meadows, and mangroves.
Of course and unfortunately,
because of our reliance on these systems
and their close proximity
to where humans live and act,
our actions are causing major destruction.
I’m going to give you some
depressing numbers:
We have lost over 50%
of our mangroves,
we have lost up to 65%
of our seagrass meadows,
and up to 80 percent of our tidal marshes.
So all of those amazing benefits,
from habitats for fish that we depend on,
from nutrition and the economy
to storm surge protection,
and blue carbon get lost
when we destroy these ecosystems.
Are you feeling a little depressed?
It’s OK. There’s a way out.
The way out is to figure out how
we can best manage and protect them.
And the neat thing is, we think
that we can couple the management,
protection, and restoration
of these ecosystems,
the restoration of all the many
benefits they provide,
including the sequestration of carbon,
to that first problem that I mentioned
by increasing access
to technology in a novel way.
I am leading a group with colleagues
at Boston University
and Harvard University
to radically change how we approach
coastal ocean research.
Our goal is to develop
a novel sensor suite,
but it’s not just about developing
a novel sensor suite.
It’s about taking that technology
and putting it into the hands
of more people.
Our world view is limited by those
who get to ask and answer questions,
and our goal is to expand
those people, expand the pool,
bring the most pressing questions,
more diversity in the ways,
all of the ways we can define that
to the table to answer
these pressing questions.
How are we going to do it?
We’re going to build on familiar tenets
of the share economy.
Many of us routinely do things
like rent a tuxedo for the weekend.
I don’t rent a tuxedo,
although I would like one, actually.
But you might rent a bike
for a quick tour around Boston, right?
Well, imagine if it was possible
to do that for sensors.
That’s our goal.
We’re going to leverage the best
we can from the share economy,
we’re going to be able to share
the novel sensor suites that we develop,
and we will increase
the data that we need.
So here we’re solving
the problems that we have at hand.
We’re going to increase
who is asking and answering questions,
increase access
to the scientific enterprise.
We will collect more and better data
on spatial and temporal parameters
that we need to build
better predictive models,
so that we can build a sustainable
future for coastal ecosystems.
Those models and those data
can also help us help inform how to make
the best management and policy decisions
for the restoration
of these coastal ecosystems
By restoring coastal ecosystems,
we can continue the partnership
that humans and the coast
have had for millennia.
I strongly believe that the future
of coastal ecosystems
is also the future of humanity,
and our path forward,
our sustainable path forward,
is to improve how we take care
and manage these systems.
It would be wonderful if you
would like to learn more and join us.
Please come to coastalocean.org.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)