To get the year going with a bang, I caught the red-eye flight from California, straight from the mountainside, and flew across to New York City for the official kick off to my year! My stomach was alive with butterflies in anticipation of the festivities. These were no ordinary celebrations – this was the 50th anniversary of the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society (OWUSS).
Without a moment’s delay, the whirlwind of celebrations kicked off with a grand dinner at the New York Yacht Club. It was an honour to spend the evening with the luminaries of the underwater world. I found it inspiring to meet so many previous scholars and interns from across the years.
The next day, I took great pleasure in watching the films made by last year’s scholars in the New York Times Centre. To mark the fiftieth, there was a splendid Story Collider event, where past scholars recounted a range of tales, from heartfelt moments of loss to comedic misadventures on smelly desert islands.
Taking to my new role like the proverbial fish to water, I dove deep into the world of ocean policy and science at the Explorers Club, as part of the Blue Generation cohort for the United Nations’ World Oceans week.
As I embarked on my journey to finding ‘Sam’s Solutions for Society and The Sea,’ I realised that I first needed to confront some critical questions:
What are the big challenges that society and the seas face? Why are they so pressing?
These questions became a key focal point of my experience at the Blue Generation programme, where I was immersed in a series of workshops and lectures from acclaimed pioneers and deeply passionate ocean advocates. A personal highlight for me was sitting down for a one-on-one discussion with the celebrated marine biologist Dr Sylvia Earle, where we talked about some of the most pressing challenges the oceans face and the compelling reasons why they need to be protected.
Ten days flew by, and I found myself sitting in disbelief at all that I’d experienced, as I headed from the Explorers Club straight to the airport for the next leg of this wonderful journey.
Once again, I’d like to extend my thanks to the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society and my sponsors and hosts for their generous support: Rolex as the patron of the Scholarship, gear sponsors Fourth Element, Halcyon, Suunto, Reef Photo & Video, Light & Motion, and Nauticam as well as support from PADI, The Explorers Club and Divers Alert Network (DAN).
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In addition to these blogs, I’ll regularly be posting vlogs, sharing what I get up to on Instagram (feel free to follow me @samphibianthemarvellous) and posting StoryMaps (got to fit in a cheeky bit of GIS somehow wink wink).
P.S. If you still want to know more about me, check out my biography, have a stalk of my LinkedIn or, better yet, get in touch (samuel.thomsen[at]owuscholarship.org)!
