Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium inspires youth leaders

A passion for the ocean came naturally to Sean Russell because of his native Floridian roots. 

“He has been coming to Mote since he could crawl,” said his father, Dan Russell.

Inspired by his time coming to Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium during his childhood, Russell interned for the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program at the aquarium starting in high school.

In his time there, he noticed how important it was to start learning about ocean conservation from a young age for his generation to make a noticeable impact. 

In 2011, he launched the annual Youth Ocean Conservation Summit to develop a community of youth interested in making an impact in ocean conservation in their local communities.

After he moved to Tennessee with his family following Hurricane Ian, Russell returns every year to Mote to lead the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit. On Sept. 12, middle school and high school students from around Florida and the country attended the summit to learn about the current threats facing marine ecosystems. 

With the theme of “Seas the Future,” participants engaged in multiple workshops covering recent problems in the field of ocean conservation, such as water policy, protection of mangroves and wetlands, and marine debris issues.

Local high school students Brice Claypoole and Megan Barry led the keynote presentation leading into the morning workshops. Participants learned about ocean threats through interactive activities such as building oyster gardens.  

In the afternoon, participants chose between three tracks for breakout sessions that are based on Mote’s partners, such as Suncoast Waterkeepers, Right to Clean Water Act and NOAA Marine Debris Program. The sessions included a track on water quality and water policy, a track on mangrove restoration and coastal resilience, and a track on sustainable fisheries and marine debris. 

“Today has been very rewarding for me,” said ninth-grader Sophia Haakman from Pine View School in Osprey. “Conservation is not necessarily a topic I am interested in, but I was shocked by some of the things I learned today. Some things that I thought were just common sense are affecting our oceans in terrible ways, like the fact that in Florida, we don’t have the right to clean water. So, it makes me more motivated to participate in more groups that are impacting ocean conservation.”

Young leaders in ocean conservation from around the state and country attended the summit to learn about their specific mission, such as 12-year-old Anya Gupta, of Boca Raton; 13-year-old Cash Daniels, of Tennessee; and 9-year-old Lidea Clever, of Georgia. All three have written children’s books about ocean conservation and have won awards for their impacts in the field. 

“I like getting to educate people about these issues so that when they are older, they can help protect our oceans,” said Clever. 

To end the summit, Russell led the students in a conservation project action planning session. He posed questions that he hoped would inspire them to develop their own conservation projects for their communities based on the connections they made and everything they learned throughout the summit. 

“It's important that we don't just focus on those issues and challenges, but that we pivot and shift to the tangible steps that you can take to bring about change when it comes to those issues,” Russell said. “It’s rare to be able to get together youth who want to make a difference, so it is great to be able to work with them and get them started young. If not them, then who is going to take care of our oceans?”