This is Marine Conservation | ocean science, stories, and solutions to protect our blue planet

Casey Snook
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If you love the ocean and feel called to protect it, you’re in the right place. This Is Marine Conservation brings the ocean straight to your earbuds through inspiring stories, accessible marine science, and real-world ways YOU can help protect our blue planet starting today. Hosted by a young female marine scientist whose life has been shaped by saltwater, curiosity, and countless underwater adventures, this show blends storytelling, science, and simple action steps so marine conservation feels doable, meaningful, and deeply personal for everyone. Each episode dives into ocean conservation, marine biology, marine science, how to help the ocean, and ocean career pathways. You'll hear conversations with researchers, conservationists, divers, artists, policy experts, and the everyday ocean lovers making waves in their communities. You’ll also hear solo, story-rich episodes that pull back the curtain on life in the field, from research highs to salty misadventures, told in a way that’s welcoming and accessible, not science-heavy. You’ll walk away with: 🌍 Practical actions you can take immediately to help the ocean 📚 Clear explanations of current marine issues and breakthroughs 🌊 Inspiring stories that reconnect you with the wonder, value, and power of the ocean 🧭 Guidance and insight for those curious about ocean-focused education or careers Whether you’re an aspiring marine biologist, a conservation professional, a scuba diver, or simply someone who loves the sea, this show will leave you informed, empowered, and more connected to the ocean than ever. Ready to protect the ocean, one episode at a time? Subscribe to This Is Marine Conservation and let's dive in.

  1. 5d ago ·  Video

    Can We Eat Our Way Out of the Green Crab Problem? With Dr. Gabriela Bradt

    Ep. 20: Green crabs aren't native to New England, so can we use an "eat them to beat them" approach? Dr. Gabby Bradt has spent more than a decade trying to find out. Gabby is the Fisheries and Aquaculture Extension Specialist for UNH Cooperative Extension and New Hampshire Sea Grant, and she’s been on my guest wish list since before this show had a name. She interned for my dad at the EPA back when I was a kid watching him tow a boat up to Maine for fieldwork (and deciding that looked way better than an office). Years later, we ended up working across the hall from each other at UNH.  From a PhD in squid biology to becoming known as the "green crab lady" (to her great annoyance), Gabby has had an exciting and varied career throughout the marine sector. In this episode, we get into: How European green crabs got here 200+ years ago, and why it took so long for anyone to care Why Gabby doesn’t think wiping them out is the goal anymore The two summers she spent photographing crabs to figure out when they’re about to molt (and why that matters for your dinner plate) Why the word “invasive” was getting in the way of people eating them The Great Green Crab Hunts, where anyone from toddlers to grandmas can help Her honest take on careers off the tenure track, learning to say no, and bringing your kids along for the ride What it’ll actually take to turn green crabs into a real marketGabby is an absolute force in the world of marine science and someone I've admired and looked up to for a very long time. She's a riot, a joy, and an inspiration. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did! EPISODE SHOW NOTES (click for all the links!) 🦀 Connect with Gabby Learn more about NH SeaGrant's Green Crab projectGet involved in the Great Green Crab HuntsReach out to Gabby here Looking to break into the world of marine conservation, but don’t know where to start? I’ve got you! Download my free resource, the Aspiring Marine Conservationist’s toolkit at caseysnook.com/toolkit and start making waves in your career today 🌊 Podcast website Casey's Instagram - @caseysnook_ Podcast Instagram - @thisismarineconservation Say hello! Contact Casey here. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, it’d mean the world if you took a moment to subscribe and leave a review and/or rating wherever you’re listening! Your support helps this podcast reach more ocean lovers and aspiring marine conservationists just like you. Thank you!

  2. Sep 23

    What Does it Take to Grow Oysters in Narragansett Bay? Oceanographer Jacqueline Rosa Weighs In

    Ep. 019: Ever wondered about the life of an oyster before it hits your plate? This week's guest is oceanographer Jacqueline Rosa. She spent a year and a half monitoring the surface and bottom of the bay, plus six months raising oysters in three kinds of farming gear. One of those was Flip Farm, a New Zealand–designed system that's getting Rhode Island oyster farmers' attention. She did all of this after a decade away from school, working at marine science nonprofits and in outdoor education. In this episode, we talk about: What an oyster "seed" actually is (you'll hear me realize my lack of knowledge on the topic in real time)The farmer who knew about a problem at his site before any sensors didWhich gear lost the most oysters, and the two culprits behind itWhether ocean acidification is showing up in Narragansett BayThe cold email that led to her funded master's projectWhy her ten years in the workforce helped her succeed as a grad studentStick around to the end for what's giving Jacque hope for the ocean right now. It's a lovely one :) EPISODE SHOW NOTES (click for all the links!) Connect with Jacqueline on LinkedIn Looking to break into the world of marine conservation, but don’t know where to start? I’ve got you! Download my free resource, the Aspiring Marine Conservationist’s toolkit at caseysnook.com/toolkit and start making waves in your career today 🌊 Podcast website Casey's Instagram - @caseysnook_ Podcast Instagram - @thisismarineconservation Say hello! Contact Casey here. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, it’d mean the world if you took a moment to subscribe and leave a review and/or rating wherever you’re listening! Your support helps this podcast reach more ocean lovers and aspiring marine conservationists just like you. Thank you!

  3. Sep 3

    She Tags Fish on Every Charter She Runs. Here's How Captain Coral Aiello Makes Conservation Hands-On.

    Ep 018: Fishing charter captains don't care about conservation, right? Wrong. Coral Aiello started working on her dad's charter boat as a 14-year-old mate. Sixteen years later, she's the captain and her dad works the deck.  In this episode, Coral shares why she believes fishers care about the ocean more than most, how she brings fish tagging aboard her charters, and what her seat on the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council has taught her. Plus: warming waters, the "Professional Hooker" story, and going from law-school plans to captain's license. We talk about being a woman in a male-dominated industry, the reality behind the "dream job," and how she folds conservation into every charter. This one is honest, funny, and full of heart. 🎣 EPISODE SHOW NOTES (click for all the links!) Connect with Coral Book a charter fishing trip with Coral!Follow Coral on Instagram @professional.hookerFollow Coral on Facebook: Professional Hooker Fishing Looking to break into the world of marine conservation, but don’t know where to start? I’ve got you! Download my free resource, the Aspiring Marine Conservationist’s toolkit at caseysnook.com/toolkit and start making waves in your career today 🌊 Podcast website Casey's Instagram - @caseysnook_ Podcast Instagram - @thisismarineconservation Say hello! Contact Casey here. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, it’d mean the world if you took a moment to subscribe and leave a review and/or rating wherever you’re listening! Your support helps this podcast reach more ocean lovers and aspiring marine conservationists just like you. Thank you!

  4. Aug 13

    What No One Tells You About Turning Writing Into an Ocean Career, with "The Ocean Writer" Melissa Hobson

    Ep 017: Melissa Hobson is one of the most published ocean writers around, with bylines in National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Scientific American, The New York Times, and The Guardian. After she was peer-pressured into learning to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef, she slowly transitioned her career from PR to writing about the oceans.  There are so many options for building a marine career that isn't "scientist," and Melissa shows us just how incredible a career in ocean writing can be.  We talk about the portfolio-less cold email that landed her the cover of a dive magazine, the one question every good pitch has to answer (it works for job applications too), and how ocean stories break days before the rest of the world hears about them.  She also talks about her "conservation Trojan horse" trick for slipping the important stuff into a fun animal story, where she really lands on AI as someone who writes for a living, and the citizen science projects that let you help the ocean from your laptop, even if you're hundreds of miles inland. If you've ever wanted to work in the ocean space but not as a scientist, this one's for you. EPISODE SHOW NOTES (click for all the links!) Connect with Melissa! Visit Melissa's website Melissa Hobson on LinkedIn — where she shares most of her published stories Looking to break into the world of marine conservation, but don’t know where to start? I’ve got you! Download my free resource, the Aspiring Marine Conservationist’s toolkit at caseysnook.com/toolkit and start making waves in your career today 🌊 Podcast website Casey's Instagram - @caseysnook_ Podcast Instagram - @thisismarineconservation Say hello! Contact Casey here. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, it’d mean the world if you took a moment to subscribe and leave a review and/or rating wherever you’re listening! Your support helps this podcast reach more ocean lovers and aspiring marine conservationists just like you. Thank you!

  5. Aug 8

    How to Track a Sea Turtle: 3 Technologies and What They Reveal, with Dr. Liberty Boyd

    Ep 016: Dr. Liberty Boyd went to college to become a teacher, but walked out a sea turtle scientist. In this episode, we get into the decade-long question that pulled her in: what are sea turtles actually doing for 99% of their lives when they're not up on the beach nesting? For her Ph.D. research, Liberty tracked turtles across the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Australia using cameras, underwater microphones, and Apple-Watch-style motion tags. She breaks down, in plain language, how each one works and what they revealed. We talk about turtles that steer around boats, why the jellyfish-eaters roam so much farther than seagrass munchers, the harmful algal bloom research she's worked on most recently, and the postdoc distinction she wishes someone had explained to her sooner. She also shares a piece of career news you're hearing here first, and the decade-long relationship behind it. Whether you're chasing a marine science career or you just love turtles, this one's for you. 🐢 EPISODE SHOW NOTES (click for all the links!) Connect with Dr. Liberty Follow Libertyology on Instagram Follow Libertyology on TikTok Looking to break into the world of marine conservation, but don’t know where to start? I’ve got you! Download my free resource, the Aspiring Marine Conservationist’s toolkit at caseysnook.com/toolkit and start making waves in your career today 🌊 Podcast website Casey's Instagram - @caseysnook_ Podcast Instagram - @thisismarineconservation Say hello! Contact Casey here. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, it’d mean the world if you took a moment to subscribe and leave a review and/or rating wherever you’re listening! Your support helps this podcast reach more ocean lovers and aspiring marine conservationists just like you. Thank you!

  6. Aug 2

    The Narragansett Bay Is Healthier Than It's Been in Decades, and Baykeeper Chris Dodge is Fighting to Keep It That Way

    Ep 015: Did you know part of Narragansett Bay was closed to shellfishing since before World War II, and that it only reopened a couple of years ago? I didn't fully understand what that comeback meant until I sat down with Chris Dodge, the Narragansett Baykeeper at Save The Bay. Chris holds one of only about 300 Waterkeeper positions on the planet, which basically makes him the eyes, ears, and voice of the Bay. I wanted to know what that job actually looks like day to day. Somewhere between raw sewage, a secret tunnel under Providence, and what he calls a "biomagnified bomb of bacteria," I ended up way more hopeful about the future of our Rhode Island's bay than when we started. In this episode, we get into: What a Baykeeper actually does all day (spoiler: no two days look alike)Why, in Rhode Island, you often have no way of knowing when sewage hits the water you swim inThe 3-mile tunnel under Providence that brought shellfishing back after 80 yearsHow more than half the Bay's watershed sits in another stateChris's advice for breaking into marine conservation when the big orgs feel out of reachWhether you're chasing a career on the water or just love Narragansett Bay, this one will leave you a little more optimistic about what's possible. 🌊 EPISODE SHOW NOTES (click for all the links!) Connect with Chris  @narrabaykeeper on Instagram — Chris's weekly beach-closure and bacteria updates Save The Bay — volunteer, donate, or explore the grounds on the Providence–Cranston border Looking to break into the world of marine conservation, but don’t know where to start? I’ve got you! Download my free resource, the Aspiring Marine Conservationist’s toolkit at caseysnook.com/toolkit and start making waves in your career today 🌊 Podcast website Casey's Instagram - @caseysnook_ Podcast Instagram - @thisismarineconservation Say hello! Contact Casey here. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, it’d mean the world if you took a moment to subscribe and leave a review and/or rating wherever you’re listening! Your support helps this podcast reach more ocean lovers and aspiring marine conservationists just like you. Thank you!

  7. Jul 25

    She Googled "How to Start a Nonprofit." Now Imani Black Is Building a Path Into Aquaculture for Everyone.

    Ep 014: What happens when you see something that changes the entire course of your career... in the first six minutes of a Netflix show? In this episode, I sit down with Imani Black, founder and CEO of Minorities in Aquaculture (MIA). Imani spent about five years as a commercial oyster farmer on the Eastern Shore of Maryland before Googling "how to start a nonprofit" in 2020 and building what's now a global network of around 600 members. She's an oyster enthusiast, a self-described dreamer and doer, and one of the most honest voices I've had on the show. She's keeping it real about what it takes. Here's what we get into: The Netflix moment that rerouted Imani's entire careerHow a cold email (with barely any punctuation!) changed everythingWhy she says aquaculture is conservation, not separate from itThe article that "caused quite a stir" and the culture shift she's pushing forWhy representation is a first step, not the finish lineWhat "killing every version of yourself" has to do with building something newWhether you're oyster-curious or dreaming up your own path into marine conservation, this one will leave you inspired. 🦪 EPISODE SHOW NOTES (click for all the links!) Check out Minorities in Aquaculture (MIA) — become a member (free for women, women of color, and gender minorities in aquaculture) or a champion  Imani's article Aquaculture North America: "We Don't Need More Women's Panels. We Need a Culture Shift." Follow Imani on Instagram Looking to break into the world of marine conservation, but don’t know where to start? I’ve got you! Download my free resource, the Aspiring Marine Conservationist’s toolkit at caseysnook.com/toolkit and start making waves in your career today 🌊 Podcast website Casey's Instagram - @caseysnook_ Podcast Instagram - @thisismarineconservation Say hello! Contact Casey here. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, it’d mean the world if you took a moment to subscribe and leave a review and/or rating wherever you’re listening! Your support helps this podcast reach more ocean lovers and aspiring marine conservationists just like you. Thank you!

  8. Jul 17

    His Films Helped Create a National Park. Now Wildlife Cinematographer Erick Higuera is Aiming His Camera at Hammerheads.

    Ep 013: Can film move the needle for marine conservation? The answer is an unequivocal YES. Underwater cinematographer Erick Higuera is not only a genius with a camera, but he's also a marine biologist and passionate advocate for his home, the Mexican Pacific. He's been diving these waters since 1997, meaning he's had a front row seat to some of the worst environmental decline in the region, but also some incredible successes. We chat about some of these amazing examples of ocean recovery and protection, including the marine protected area in Cabo Pulmo and Revillagigedo National Park, North America's largest fully protected marine reserve. Erick also shares his not-so-linear path into the world of marine biology and cinematography via the dive industry. He reveals some heart-stopping underwater encounters with humpback whales and orcas, and shares how he balances his vitally important work with his family life. And of course, we talk about the latest project Erick worked on: Hammerhead Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory. It's streaming now on Disney+.  EPISODE SHOW NOTES (click for all the links!) Connect with Erick Erick's website: erickhiguera.comFollow Erick on Instagram: @erick.higueraCheck out Erick's VimeoDive into Erick's scientific research on ResearchGate Looking to break into the world of marine conservation, but don’t know where to start? I’ve got you! Download my free resource, the Aspiring Marine Conservationist’s toolkit at caseysnook.com/toolkit and start making waves in your career today 🌊 Podcast website Casey's Instagram - @caseysnook_ Podcast Instagram - @thisismarineconservation Say hello! Contact Casey here. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, it’d mean the world if you took a moment to subscribe and leave a review and/or rating wherever you’re listening! Your support helps this podcast reach more ocean lovers and aspiring marine conservationists just like you. Thank you!

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If you love the ocean and feel called to protect it, you’re in the right place. This Is Marine Conservation brings the ocean straight to your earbuds through inspiring stories, accessible marine science, and real-world ways YOU can help protect our blue planet starting today. Hosted by a young female marine scientist whose life has been shaped by saltwater, curiosity, and countless underwater adventures, this show blends storytelling, science, and simple action steps so marine conservation feels doable, meaningful, and deeply personal for everyone. Each episode dives into ocean conservation, marine biology, marine science, how to help the ocean, and ocean career pathways. You'll hear conversations with researchers, conservationists, divers, artists, policy experts, and the everyday ocean lovers making waves in their communities. You’ll also hear solo, story-rich episodes that pull back the curtain on life in the field, from research highs to salty misadventures, told in a way that’s welcoming and accessible, not science-heavy. You’ll walk away with: 🌍 Practical actions you can take immediately to help the ocean 📚 Clear explanations of current marine issues and breakthroughs 🌊 Inspiring stories that reconnect you with the wonder, value, and power of the ocean 🧭 Guidance and insight for those curious about ocean-focused education or careers Whether you’re an aspiring marine biologist, a conservation professional, a scuba diver, or simply someone who loves the sea, this show will leave you informed, empowered, and more connected to the ocean than ever. Ready to protect the ocean, one episode at a time? Subscribe to This Is Marine Conservation and let's dive in.

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