Dr. Ayana Johnson’s job is a day at the beach, literally! The marine biologist and environmental conservation expert spends her days studying the world’s oceans.
Dr. Johnson became fascinated by coral reef when she was just a little girl. While finishing her doctorate in marine biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, she worked to preserve that same coral reef by studying the impact fishing has on its ecosystem. Her research directly shapes environmental policy.
While working as the executive director of the ocean conservation organization the Waitt Institute, Johnson led and co-founded the Blue Halo Initiative to bring together communities and governments in service of ocean sustainability. She spent time conducting field research in Curaçao, a tropical island in the Caribbean, where she partnered with local fisheries to improve laws around conservation. She’s also worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and in the Environmental Protection Agency.
Even though she spends a lot time hanging out with fish underwater, Johnson says that it’s important to put people first in environmental work. “I’ve learned is that ocean conservation is not about fish,” she said during a Ted Talk. “It’s about people.” Her ultimate mission is to “build bridges among science, policy, and people, so we can use the ocean without using it up.”
Johnson says one of her favorite things about being a marine biologist is that you get to spend a lot of time hanging out at the beach. It’s one of the only fields that merges work and play while still being critical to the planet. “I love that my office is anywhere in the world where there’s an ocean,” she explained in a segment for Science 360.
You can follow Dr. Johnson’s work on Twitter @ayanaeliza.
