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Web series: The Science-Policy Interface and Ocean Sustainability

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About the series

In this three-part web-series, aquanaut Fabien Cousteau does a deep-dive into the importance of the science-policy interface for achieving ocean sustainability. Each week, Fabien will discuss a new topic with experts from around the world. Fabien is an aquanaut, oceanographic explorer and environmental advocate. He is the founder of the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center.

New episodes will be released on a weekly basis. Please share the video and tell us what you learnt, using hashtags  #SaveOurOcean #RegularProcess or tagging @FCousteau on Twitter or Instagram.

The series is released in anticipation of the launch of the Second World Ocean Assessment (WOA II), the major output of the second cycle of the Regular Process. The series was developed by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations, in its capacity as the secretariat of the Regular Process.

Episode 3: Solutions for ocean sustainability

Solutions for Ocean Sustainability

In this last episode, Fabien Cousteau is joined by research scientist Karen Evans  and ocean engineer Grace Young to discuss the solutions for ocean sustainability.

Episode 2: Challenges facing ocean sustainability

Challenges facing Ocean Sustainability

In this second epsiode, Fabien Cousteau is joined by oceanographer and coastal science expert Lorna Inniss and fisheries biologist Jörn Schmidt to discuss the challenges facing ocean sustainability.

Episode 1: Human connection with the ocean

Human Connection with the Ocean

In this first installation of the series, Fabien Cousteau is joined by oceanographer Peter Haugan to discuss the human connection with the ocean.

Meet the experts

Episode 3

Karen Evans

Karen Evans is a Team Lead and principal research scientist with CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere. She is involved in research focused on improving scientific understanding, developing options for sustainable marine resource management, and improving reporting of biodiversity assessments at national, regional and global scales. Karen Evans was a member of the Group of Experts during the second cycle of the Regular Process, and a member of the Executive Planning Group for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Grace Young

Grace Young is an ocean engineer working to create new technologies to protect the ocean while feeding humanity sustainably. She has developed robots, imaging systems, and other technologies for intergovernmental organizations, government agencies and academic institutions. In 2014 she lived underwater for 15 days as a mission scientist on Fabien Cousteau's Mission 31, the youngest Aquarius aquanaut at the time.

Episode 2

Lorna V. Inniss

Lorna Inniss is a principal coordination officer of the Secretariat for UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme and the Cartagena Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region. Lorna Inniss has extensive experience in oceanography and coastal zone management, and has chaired an intergovernmental coordination group for coastal hazards under IOC-UNESCO. She was one of the Joint Coordinators of the Group of Experts of the first cycle of the Regular Process.

Jörn O. Schmidt

Jörn Schmidt is an adjunct professor at the Marine Affairs Programme at Dalhousie University, and a senior research fellow at the Center for Ocean and Society at Kiel University. Jörn Schmidt was a member of the Group of Experts during its second cycle, and is Chair of the Science Committee at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

Episode 1

Peter Haugan

Peter Haugan is a programme director at the Institute of Marine Research and professor of oceanography at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Bergen in Norway. Peter Haugan has more than 30 years of experience in marine scientific research and international ocean science coordination. He is an advisor to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.