This year, over a 6-week community internship program, youth from all corners of the world were selected to come together to connect, exchange, learn from leading ocean experts, and take a deep dive in developing and implementing actions in their own communities. Throughout the summer internship, ocean guardians like Captain Paul Watson, Mike Coots, Robin McDowell , Esther Htusan, Cliff Kapono, Ramón Navarro, Jordan Marie Daniel and many other change-makers came to speak. They inspired the interns to follow their dreams and taught them how to play a part in protecting the oceans.

The OU internship team started off by mapping and identifying environmental threats in their unique coastal and non-coastal locations. From there, they worked with peers from over ten countries to brainstorm ideas and find ways to implement meaningful initiatives. Interns were also encouraged to have dialogue with local leaders and learn more about the needs of their hometowns. Initiatives were carefully thought out and executed, ranging from artivism events to small-scale cleanups and educational toolkits. As a result, Ocean Uprise has continued to grow as an international community of young Ocean Guardians determined to create change.

The culmination of the Ocean Uprise Summer 2021 internship was the launch of the youth’s projects in Cameroon, London, Hawaii, Singapore, Australia, Mexico, Canada, across the mainland of the United States, and in India. Join us on a global journey to see how Ocean Upriser interns are making waves of change around the world…

We begin in Cameroon, where Forbi Perise – known locally as “The Plastic Man” – wanted to find youth who hadn’t had an opportunity to witness the plastic pollution plaguing their country and bring them to a cleanup. He selected 15 young people to participate and organized a beach cleanup for them. Forbi is a role model and an example of how environmentalists need to continue to educate those who don’t know rather than to cater to those who do. Forbi continues to lead incredibly impactful initiates in his hometown of Buea.

Traveling north, Jamil Quarless is a 22 year old from England who decided to share his experience with Ocean Uprise through Instagram. By using the slogan “speak up, gear up, rise up” he highlighted the speakers brought in to talk with the interns, the information learned on how to create actions to help the ocean, and finally implementing those actions and changing the world.

11,600 km away on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, Ash Daily shared his knowledge on human and environmental health with his peers as a workshop presenter at the Parley A.I.R Station in Hawai’i. “The way you treat yourself is a direct reflection of how you will treat the environment!” Ash demands bold climate action on a national level and is not afraid to speak up for ocean health and human health.

Also in Hawaii, Sage Yamashita designed an educational article and presentation about the ocean. It aims to educate how people from her local community on Moloka’i can become Ocean Guardians in their own unique ways. The article was given to local teachers, posted on her Instagram and the local dispatch website in order to reach the largest audience. Sage’s goal is for her community to be part of the movement for the oceans by inspiring better consumer and producer behaviors and habits. She then leads by example, and joins local beach clean ups with Sustainable Coastlines Hawai’i.

On the other side of the world, Sravani Somisetty + Joanne Ng co-authored and designed a children’s activity book for their community in Singapore, introducing the issue of marine plastic pollution within Singapore’s context. The book educates and empowers readers with suggestions of simple changes they can make in everyday habits, as well as avenues to use their voices and take action in their communities. Though Sravani and Joanne’s stories and backgrounds are different, they connected through their immense passion for nature, and a sense of urgency to protect what they love. Realising that nothing else felt as fruitful or rewarding as putting their time and effort towards this cause, they aspire to continue working together and using their skills for this purpose that is so much bigger than themselves.

Traveling south to the land down under, Natasha Larcos and Micol Berkowicz are two friends from Sydney, Australia who designed and hosted a cork and canvas virtual event where they taught 17 other young adults how to paint the ocean and some beautiful marine species. While playing music and keeping the mood light, they were able to weave in important statistics about the ocean's fragility in today's world. Natasha and Micol were able to show the stunning beauty and fragility of our blue planet in a way that left their friends motivated and excited to go out and protect our oceans.

Back across the vast Pacific, Gabriel Chavez and Valentina Arenas, two artistic individuals from Mexico, combined their love for art and the ocean by hosting a virtual art exhibition with three artists who highlight the beauty of the ocean: Daniel Alvarez, Erick Palacio, and Taylor Griffith. Friends and family joined and were amazed by the beauty and talent displayed. Afterwards, the audience stuck around to converse and learn with Gabriel, Valentina, and the artists about how they can become part of the solution for healthier marine environments.

Next we arrive in North Carolina, where Myles Perrin showed his family and his closest friends A Plastic Ocean in order to open their eyes to how our oceans are filling with plastic. Myles lives five hours from any ocean, and the people in his town just think that the ocean is a big playground. After he had them write a little something about what they learned and what they want to change in their lives regarding plastic. His mom said she couldn’t even get through it without crying because it was “too painful to see the animals tied up.” His friend Spencer told him that something he wants to try is to use coffee from a bag instead of the K-Cups in order to eliminate plastic. His goal is to one day show more people in his town and get his local grocery stores to eliminate the use of plastic bags.

Across the country, Mica Nienstedt mobilized seven of her peers in Idaho to clean the highway for three hours in the pouring rain. In two miles she collected seven trash bags worth of waste – primarily plastic bottles, cans and car parts. As an avid kayaker, she cleaned two of the 40 miles of the river she has grown up playing in and on. She says that “being outside improves her mental health and well-being a lot!” Mica and her motivated friends are excited to clean the rest of the highway to protect what they love.

Across the border in Canada, Claire Messenger brought in a local diver and photographer from Calgary to speak on the importance of our oceans and illustrate through photography what will be lost if we don't speak up and act now. Her goal for this project was to connect her community to the oceans by listening to the experiences that her speaker Sabrina Figliomeni has had with our oceans. She says that “through establishing a creative outlet for individuals to learn more about our oceans, individuals within my community will be inspired to spark change”.

Finally we head to Asia, where Keya Patel, a high school student from Mumbai, India, organised an ocean conservancy event for 38 secondary school children. Keya spoke about the beauty of the oceans and how loving something meant acting in the best interests of the beloved. She shared actionable solutions that everyone present in the meeting agreed to embrace. Together, the members of the audience motivated each other to reduce plastic consumption by checking a list of ten tiny lifestyle changes every week. Keya’s peers at school were so moved by the present situation of the oceans, that they aided her in spreading love and awareness about the oceans and plastics by producing original visual art, music, and written pieces for the oceans. Everyone acknowledged and realised that anyone and everyone could use their own passions to preserve the oceans, one day, one act, one choice at a time.

It’s so easy to sink into the mindset of complacency. To think “someone else will do it” or “my actions won’t have any effect” is to give up. In reality, every action we take has a tangible impact on our planet. When you do something as simple as bringing a reusable water bottle with you when you go somewhere, not only are you decreasing the demand for virgin plastic, but you are also subconsciously inspiring others to do the same. The actions our Ocean Uprise interns have taken around the world have created a chain reaction of positive change #fortheoceans. We are so proud of them and everything that they’ve accomplished. We know they will continue to be leaders and Ocean Guardians. Take these young change-makers as inspiration and an example of how everyone has the power to make tangible change in your communities. Start with something like watching a documentary with your family and friends, getting a group together to clean up your local river, or just following in the footsteps of any of these inspirational youth. You’ll be surprised by what you can accomplish and how it makes you feel. To support our interns you can donate to the fundraising page and follow them on Instagram to support and stay updated with their incredible journeys: