Erika Woolsey is a marine biologist, ocean science specialist, divemaster and coral reef ecologist — and a National Geographic Explorer — is diving into this week’s Chautauqua Lecture Series theme “Water: Crisis, Beauty and Necessity — A Week in Partnership with National Geographic” at 10:45 a.m. today in the Amphitheater.
There, she’ll share her expert perspective as she explores the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem, expanding on a conversation that she has taken across the country for National Geographic Live.
Woolsey plans to share the incredible stories she has experienced in her work, paired with rich elements of media that she has been able to bring to life with the help and support of National Geographic producers. Sharing the phenomenal characteristics of coral reefs, she hopes to take Chautauquans on an immersive journey across the ocean.
“One of my life goals is to bring as many people into the ocean as I can,” said Woolsey. “It’s that experience that leads to science careers, that leads to interest and the desire to protect, and so that connection to marine environments or any natural environment is the first step to better policies, to behavior change, to using our power as citizens and consumers to make decisions that help our planet and help each other.”
As the CEO and chief scientist of The Hydrous — a non-profit organization that uses scalable solutions like virtual reality to inspire ocean empathy and marine stewardship — Woolsey’s goal is to make ocean exploration more accessible to people who may not have the means to approach diving, or might be too scared to.
Woolsey first began using digital tools — such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and 3D printing — about nine years ago, and has been sharing the digital models online with teachers and scientists as a way to scale impact.
“There’s no replacement for the real thing, but because there’s so many barriers to ocean access, whether it’s cost, fear, safety or distance,” she said, “it’s such a really great, scalable tool to bring as many people to the ocean as possible.”
With The Hydrous, Woolsey’s hopes of connecting 10 million learners to the ocean by 2030 are very much on track.
“Our latest numbers are about 3 million, including online digital platforms, as well as in-person events and learning materials,” she said.
Woolsey is the creator of multiple award-winning ocean extended reality (XR) experiences, and was named as one of 50 explorers changing the world by The Explorers Club in 2023.
She conducted her Ph.D. research in coral reef ecology on the Great Barrier Reef with James Cook University and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.
Having recently become a mother, Woolsey is invested now more than ever in the future of ocean health, and has enjoyed seeing the parallels that her own journey of motherhood has with the strength of coral reefs and their replenishing cycles. During her lecture today, Woolsey will explore the resilience of coral reefs and their important roles in the ocean.
“They’re known as the rainforests of the ocean, because of the tremendous biodiversity. Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the seafloor on Earth, but support about 25% of all marine biodiversity,” she said. “What I’ve learned from coral reefs is resilience. Quite often corals are said to be very sensitive or fragile, but they’re actually quite strong. They’ve bounced back so many times, and recovery is very possible through natural cycles. It’s just a matter of, we need to give them the space to recover. I can apply that to different parts of my life where I’ve learned resilience.”
Woolsey — who also studied biology and art history at Duke University — uses the power of design and visual storytelling to approach scientific concepts in a more engaging way that will hopefully stay with people.
“It’s really important that learning content about science is beautiful and engaging and interesting, because, if it’s not compelling, it’s not going to be very effective,” she said. “The ocean can be used to teach so many things that covers most of our planet. It’s crucial for human survival … and it’s very out-of-sight, out-of-mind in a lot of ways. The ocean is over-exploited and under-protected and out-of-mind, and I think that’s a disastrous combination.”
Ocean science and conservation needs to be more at the forefront of people’s minds, but it’s a big challenge because of the “big bottleneck” between scientific discovery in our ocean and public understanding. Woolsey hopes that by sharing the stories of her research and fieldwork, people will begin to realize that these ecosystems are not only breathtakingly beautiful, but that they’re fascinating from a scientific point of view.
She wants people to start changing their mindsets, and begin thinking about ways to protect the ocean because they care about it and because they know these ecosystems are worth protecting.
“When it comes to conservation, knowledge isn’t our limiting factor. We know what’s happening with ocean degradation in specific ecosystems, that’s pretty well documented, so scientists are going to continue to document degradation,” she said. “What I’d love to see in the next 10 years, especially during the United Nations’ Decade of Ocean Science, is a focus on the proven solutions, and the good news is we know what to do. … What we need is the political will, motivation and incentives to get those things done.”
