March 2025 | Oceanography
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
SHOWCASING DIVERSE CAREER PATHS IN OCEAN SCIENCES
At the end of the special issue, 13 autobiographical sketches ofer personal
narratives from professionals across various career trajectories, including
several contributed by guest editors of this issue. These sketches provide
insights into the diverse pathways within and beyond academia, highlighting
both traditional academic careers as well as careers in governmental agen-
cies, industry, conservation organizations, and other applied fields. The con-
tributors reflect on their motivations, challenges, and defining moments, ofer-
ing perspectives on career development, professional fulfillment, and lessons
learned. By including these narratives, we hope to broaden perspectives on
professional opportunities and encourage a more inclusive and adaptable
approach to career development in the ocean sciences and in adjacent fields
in the marine sector.
To kick of the special issue, we dis-
tributed via several listservs a call for let-
ters of interest in contributing long or
short (“spotlight”) articles that would
align with the issue’s goals. Afer review
of the 50 letters of interest submitted,
we sent invitations to roughly half of the
interested parties. In several cases, we
asked potential authors to collaborate
with others who sent in letters of inter-
est on similar topics or programs. We also
invited a few additional spotlights to fll
in gaps in content.
Based on the content distribution of
letters of interest, most articles in this
special issue share information about
and lessons learned from running capac-
ity sharing programs. Organizations such
as IOC/UNESCO contribute to global
capacity sharing through programs such
as the OceanTeacher Global Academy
and the IOC Ocean Traineeship, among
others (Diwa-Acallar et al.). POGO imple-
ments several capacity sharing programs,
such as the Visiting Fellowship Program
(Seeyave et al.), the Shipboard Training
Program (Krug et al.), and the Nippon
Foundation-POGO Centre of Excel-
lence in Observational Oceanography
(Krieger et al.). SCOR’s travel grant pro-
gram has had a positive impact on partic-
ipants (Twigg et al.). Te Surface Ocean-
Lower
Atmosphere
Study
(SOLAS)
builds community through mentoring,
skill enhancement workshops, increas-
ing access to resources, and a network
of observation and training centers
(Dinasquet et al.). Te Ocean Founda-
tion’s Ocean Science Equity Initiative
(EquiSea) provides fnancial support
for projects, coordinates capacity shar-
ing activities, and supports the devel-
opment of low-cost ocean science
technologies, among other activities
(Valauri-Orton et al. a).
Several articles in this issue report on
long-running capacity sharing programs
in Africa, describing their motivations,
evolution, reach, and challenges. Since
2015, the Coastal Ocean Environment
Summer School In Nigeria and Ghana
(COESSING) has been a platform for
exchanging
knowledge,
networking,
learning, and collaboration (Arbic et al.).
A master’s program in Benin that has
been ongoing for 15 years has grown
into a more regional program, training
the next generation of ocean scientists
for jobs in the civil, industrial, and com-
mercial sectors (Alory et al.). A partner-
ship between Cabo Verdean and German
institutions, begun in 2004, has grown
and has established ocean research and
education infrastructure in West Africa
(Fiedler et al.). Additional capacity shar-
ing programs operating in Africa include
Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOP)
Africa, Citizen Observation of Local Litter
in Coastal Ecosystems (COLLECT), and
Mundus Maris Africa (Saba et al.).
In addition to major program eforts,
smaller collaborative learning experi-
ences such as hackweeks (Martin et al.)
and hackathons (Hochberg et al.) can
be useful for building capacity through
exchange of knowledge about and train-
ing in sofware, data, and computing
resources that are openly available. Tese
sessions are also opportunities to build
relationships and support networks.
Various pedagogical methods can be
used to build capacity, such as partici-
patory action research, which integrates
local knowledge with scientifc research
to foster collaborations (Fakoya et al.),
and project-based learning that empha-
sizes “learning by doing” (Nyadjro et al.).
Online courses that help learners develop
solutions to combat marine litter have
also been made available (Menck et al.).
Collaborative research can also be used to
build capacity, from academia to indus-
try, and can bridge knowledge gaps and