Category: Education

This piece originally appeared as a letter to the editor in our local paper, the Star Democrat.

Walking through the Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery in the heart of St. Michaels, you might notice something that we don’t see very often: tiny tombstones. A daughter who lived two weeks before passing in 1901. A brother and sister, neither of whom made it to their first birthday. Three-year-olds, nine-year-olds, eleven-year-olds. For most of human history, high rates of infant and childhood mortality was a fact of life.

There is one specific reason why we don’t see tiny tombstones in modern cemeteries: vaccines.

In 1938, Max Theiler developed the first yellow fever vaccine. In 1939, Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering proved the effectiveness of the pertussis vaccine. In 1945, Jonas Salk developed the first influenza vaccine and then set his sights on Polio in the 1950s. Salk tested his first Polio vaccine on himself. In 1961, John Enders developed a measles vaccine that was 100% effective. In 1967, the World Health Organization began its campaign to eradicate Smallpox. Smallpox was declared extinct in 1980.

Over the last half century, vaccinations for 14 common childhood diseases have reduced global infant mortality by 40%. 154 million people, 101 million of which were infants, are alive today thanks to safe, effective vaccines. The measles vaccine, alone, is responsible for 60% of those lives saved. By almost any measure, the advent of mass vaccinations is the single greatest public health victory in modern medicine.

In the 75 years prior to the development of the polio vaccine, 9 children under the age of 13 were buried in the Christ Church Cemetery. In the 75 years after, there was only one.

We are entering a dangerous new era in public health as vaccine conspiracists use fear to deprive children of access to the most effective medical intervention ever created. In Texas, 22 children were infected with measles this month. In American Samoa, a 2019 outbreak left 61 children dead. The island ran out of child-sized coffins. The elevation of prominent vaccine-denier Robert Kennedy Jr. to the highest public health office sets us on a dangerous path towards new epidemics of old diseases.

We can’t allow the voices of reason, hard-won experience, community, and civic duty be drowned out by fear mongers. All you have to do is walk through any historic cemetery on the Eastern Shore to see that the truth about vaccines is written in stone.

Southern Fried Science is free and ad-free. Southern Fried Science and the OpenCTD project are supported by funding from our Patreon Subscribers. If you value these resources, please consider contributing a few dollars to help keep the servers running and the coffee flowing. We have stickers.

My “Follow ocean science and conservation experts on Bluesky and Instagram” assignment

February 23, 2025

Jeff Prescott

bluesky Conservation Education Science science communication science education No Comments

As an informal learning assignment, I have my students use social media to follow ocean science and conservation experts for the semester. Each week, they’re asked to check social media for a few minutes, and report on something interesting they learned about marine science or conservation (and why they thought it was interesting.) I’m sharing that assignment here so that others can use or modify it, either for a class or for your own informal science education.

ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND:

A great deal of science communication takes place online, where modern communication tools like social media and blogs make it easier than ever before in human history for experts to share their expertise with the public on a large scale. Lots of ocean science and conservation experts use these tools for a mix of public education, stakeholder outreach, and professional interactions. Observing this, and in some cases participating in it, can be wonderful for students’ professional development and education! Therefore, for this course, you will follow scientists and science communicators on social media for the semester, checking briefly (or more regularly) every week, and reporting on something interesting you learned.

Some accounts you follow will be from a list I provide, and some will be accounts you find yourself.
Each week, you’ll report something interesting about ocean science or conservation you learned on social media on Canvas, noting not only what was said, but who said it, why it caught your eye, and what you learned from it. We’ll also open class discussion each week with “what’s something interesting you learned on social media about ocean science or conservation this week, and why did you think it was interesting?”

For the last five years, I’ve had students, including non-major undergraduates, senior major undergraduates, and graduate students, do versions of this assignment, which I’ve published here. We used to use Twitter, we are not doing that anymore following the decline of Science Twitter. Instead, I’m now using Bluesky and Instagram. If you’d like, you may also use another service in addition to (not instead of) one or both of these two.

You may use an existing social media account if you want, or if you’d prefer you may create a new one just for this assignment . If for whatever reason (and I do not need to know the reason) you do not want a public social media account featuring your name, you may create an anonymous account (e.g., MarineBiologyStudent_Orca or Georgetown_Swordfish or NSU_CoralReefEnjoyer or something). You absolutely may NOT pretend to be a real person who you are not, that is against social media platform policies.

Please note: if for whatever reason (and I do not need to know the reason) you absolutely refuse to use social media, there is an alternative assignment, please contact me to receive it.

Please note: Scientists and conservationists are human beings and they talk about things other than the ocean, and A Lot is happening in the world right now. If someone says something distressing, just unfollow them, don’t argue with them. If you want to talk about it, talk about it with me, not with them.

Please note: You may ask the people you follow questions if you are genuinely interested in doing so, but you are not required to do so for this assignment. Please do not ask a question just to ask a question!

Each week, there will be a Canvas prompt for you to respond to, asking you to identify a post you saw on social media that you found interesting, and why you thought it was interesting.

BlueSky Accounts to follow

If you are using Bluesky for this assignment, you will be asked to follow at least 25 accounts from this list, and at least 10 accounts that you find on your own (some suggestions on how to find accounts are included below).

Here is a brief introduction to Bluesky, and here is how you sign up for an account if you don’t have one already.

Unlike on Instagram, if you are choosing to use Bluesky, I would recommend that you follow me because I share a lot of relevant content there, but it’s not required.

I have created a “starter pack,” a list of accounts that I think meet this course’s needs. Once you are logged into your account, please view my starter pack here. From here, examine the 50+ accounts I’ve highlighted and select at least 25 of them to follow.

To find other accounts, you can explore the marine science feed and see who is posting there. You can also search for keywords of interest (e.g., sea turtles, coral reefs, sustainable fisheries) and see who pops up. Additionally, there are lots of other great starter packs out there made by other Bluesky users. Ones that could be of interest here include: “Marine Biologists,” “Deep Sea Science,” “Coral Reef Science,” “Fisheries and Aquaculture,” “Zoos and Aquariums,” and “Marine Social Science,” or you can find your own on this list. Please note that these Starter Packs are all user-made with no quality control or fact-checking, which means they may contain people who don’t post very often and may contain people who post inaccurate information, so please explore carefully. I also made a Starter Pack of Shark Scientists.

Instagram Accounts to follow

Here’s how you make an instagram account if you do not have one already.

If you are using Instagram for this assignment, you will be asked to follow (at least) 15 accounts of your choice from the list below, and then add at least ten that you find on your own by searching hashtags or keywords of interest (like #MarineBiology or #SeaTurtles or #CoralReefs or whatever). The accounts on my provided list are a mix of scientists, conservationists, educators, government managers, and photographers and artists. It also includes institutional accounts like museums, aquariums, and government agencies. I suggest you briefly examine all of them when finding a mix that you like.

You can, but do not have to, follow me/your instructor here.

Here are my suggested Instagram accounts, with a link to each:

Oceana (@oceana) • Instagram photos and videos

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (@chesapeakemaritime) • Instagram photos and videos

Jaelen Myers (@stingray.savvy) • Instagram photos and videos

Emily De Sousa | Seafood, Travel, Sports (@seasidewithemily) • Instagram photos and videos

MSU Marine Fisheries Ecology (@msu_marinefisheriesecology) • Instagram photos and videos

Seafood Watch (@seafoodwatch) • Instagram photos and videos

Project Seagrass (@projectseagrass) • Instagram photos and videos

NOAA (@noaa) • Instagram photos and videos

National Aquarium (@nationalaquarium) • Instagram photos and videos

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (@fisheriesoceanscan) • Instagram photos and videos

Keith M. Cowley (@sharkhistorian) • Instagram photos and videos

Nautilus Live (@nautiluslive) • Instagram photos and videos

DOSI (@deepstewardship) • Instagram photos and videos

Angel Shark Project (@angelsharkproject) • Instagram photos and videos

Sharks4Kids (@sharkeducation) • Instagram photos and videos

Save Our Seas Foundation (@saveourseasfoundation) • Instagram photos and videos

HavenworthCoastalConservation (@coastalelasmos) • Instagram photos and videos

Summer Brooks (@summer.scientist) • Instagram photos and videos

Paul Nicklen (@paulnicklen) • Instagram photos and videos

FishGuyPhotos (@fishguyphotos) • Instagram photos and videos

Ocean Conservation Society (@oceanconservation) • Instagram photos and videos

MATILDA BISHOP (@artworkbymatilda) • Instagram photos and videos

kendy (@intertidalkendy) • Instagram photos and videos

Minorities in Shark Sciences (@miss_elasmo) • Instagram photos and videos

Smithsonian Marine Station (@smithsoniansms) • Instagram photos and videos

MSC Certified Sustainable Seafood 🐟 (@mscbluefish) • Instagram photos and videos

Miami Waterkeeper (@miamiwaterkeeper) • Instagram photos and videos

Sharks and Rays Australia (@sharksandraysau) • Instagram photos and videos

Coral Restoration Foundation™ (@coralrestorationfoundation) • Instagram photos and videos

Project Seahorse / iSeahorse (@projectseahorse) • Instagram photos and videos

Hakai Magazine (@hakaimag) • Instagram photos and videos

FSU Coastal & Marine Lab (@fsumarinelab) • Instagram photos and videos

US National Marine Sanctuaries (@noaasanctuaries) • Instagram photos and videos

NOAA Fisheries (@noaafisheries) • Instagram photos and videos

Ocean Conservancy (@oceanconservancy) • Instagram photos and videos

Monterey Bay Aquarium (@montereybayaquarium) • Instagram photos and videos

Coral City Camera (@coralcitycamera) • Instagram photos and videos

If you are a fellow educator and you choose to use or adapt this assignment, all I ask is that you let me know how it goes! Happy learning!

People and Ideas You Should Know: 5 Questions with Anupa Asokan

February 23, 2025

Jeff Prescott

Conservation Education Featured Policy Reviews and Interviews Science No Comments

Anupa Asokan, founder and executive director of Fish On—a new fishing interest organization working to advance ocean conservation policy—recently published a peer-reviewed perspective in Frontiers, “Marine Protected Areas as a Tool for Environmental Justice.”

Anupa is a lifelong fisherwoman and has become a passionate advocate for ocean conservation and justice. I’ve known her for several years, and shared the stage with her at the first Upwell conference in Washington, DC in 2023.

Anupa Asokan speaking at an event — Anupa Asokan speaking at Upwell

She sat down with me recently to answer 5 questions about her new paper on environmental justice. Here’s a transcript of that conversation (edited for length and clarity):

Angelo Villagomez: Congrats on the paper! What a great way to start the new year. Where does this rank in terms of your career accomplishments?

Anupa Asokan: Thank you! To be honest, while this definitely feels like a highlight worth celebrating, I don’t know that I’ve stopped to think about my career accomplishments in this way. My career has felt more like a winding road (or maybe a rollercoaster!) of discovering how I can best contribute to the issues I care about. For me, this paper helped chip away at an obstacle I felt like I was constantly up against in my advocacy work. It articulates viewpoints I’ve developed through my career and life experiences to date, and (I hope) also offers something we as an ocean conservation community can reference and build on moving forward.

Angelo: I understand this is your first scientific paper. What was going through the peer review process like, and why did you decide to focus on the topic of environmental justice and marine protected areas (MPAs)?

Anupa: My first connection to the ocean was through fishing. I don’t exactly fit the stereotype of a fisher, but it’s something I still do regularly and it has shaped my approach to advocacy. People of color and women are grossly underrepresented in ocean management and I see opportunity to support people that look more like me in the fishing community. MPAs are the quintessential topic that pits fishing against conservation, but as a fisherwoman I see their value, and as a scientist I understand the opportunity MPAs present for conservation.

There is rightful criticism of parachute approaches to conservation. And there is a lot of literature out there discussing the ramifications to communities around the world where this approach has taken place. In the U.S. however, the context of our ocean policy and management is lost in that argument. There are real opportunities to support marginalized communities through meaningful conservation, but not enough research that explores what that looks like. I spent so much time trying to put the ideas in this paper under the U.S. policy context that I missed the potential for these ideas to be relevant in other places. The peer review process helped this emerge and helped me see other gaps and potential opportunities in the ideas presented.

Angelo: A lot of the scientists and ocean advocates I’ve known over the years talk about the importance of using science to make ocean decisions – and I’m assuming most of the readers of this blog accept that as a cornerstone of the conservation movement. You write that “social context is often presented as burdensome.” Can you explain what you mean by that?

Anupa: You once told me that the villains in superhero stories are also science-driven! Science can be used for good or for evil; it’s our values that drive how we interpret and apply that information. Our vision of what the future of the ocean should look like is what ultimately defines our values and underpins the policies we advocate for.

A common argument against conservation policies is that they are a burden to the people that rely on something for their livelihoods. There are examples of outsiders trying to establish a protected area somewhere else in the world without understanding how they will truly impact a local community. But I found this idea repeatedly misrepresented and used by the fishing industry here in the U.S. to undermine potential or existing MPAs that have benefited local communities, including fishing communities. Without understanding the enabling conditions, I think it’s unfair to trivialize all MPAs as burdensome to communities.

Angelo: Some people have been talking about these “enabling conditions” you mention for many years. What are those and why are they important to ocean conservation?

Anupa: In conservation policy, I see the “good vs. evil” trope boiling down to protecting the planet for everyone for the long term, or using up what we have right now. In reality, we have a spectrum of options somewhere in the middle of that. And we have the context that influences which option we choose—data, science, policy, anecdotes, people and their needs, how information is presented to people, political will, and so on. In academic circles, that context is what we call “enabling conditions,” which, essentially, are the circumstances and the details that make an MPA work or not.

Angelo: And what’s the next step for this work, not just for you, but for the national conservation movement?

Anupa: I just started a new conservation organization called Fish On. My goal is to educate and empower other fishers to step into the conservation movement. It’s time to break the stereotype of what a fisherman looks like and more importantly, what we value. I hope that the conservation movement—and the ocean—will be better for it.

To learn more about Anupa’s work you can follow her on Bluesky or LinkedIn.

Angelo Villagomez is a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress, where he focuses on Indigenous-led conservation and ocean justice.

Related

Related

Related

Related

Navigation