So one thing I would like to use my limited platform for is to talk about how much groundbreaking work happens at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) that often goes unnoticed.
I came to NOC fresh out of university as a complete outsider to the world of Oceanography, and was honestly astonished as to how I had never heard of the centre or the importance of oceanography. This is mirrored sometimes by the raised eyebrows and questions I get when people ask me what I do, some of my close friends will still refer to me as working with fish! all while we remain on the cutting edge of our field, outside maritime circles I could argue (possibly with some bias 😅) we are one of the UK's best kept secrets.
I often wonder with the ocean's power at captivating the public imagination why some of the stuff that captivates me (a very uncloseted nerd) still slips under the radar? Is the subject matter to dense? Do we need to shout about ourselves louder? or in different circles? Are some of the scarier environmental implications of the research putting people off? I would be curious to know peoples thoughts?
While I might not be able to answer the above I might be able to address that disconnect in some small way by pointing out some things I have found interesting over the years and some teams I feel don't get the recognition they deserve. Usually due to good old fashioned modesty or by letting their work speak for itself, and that it is more about making a difference than praise.
Some examples of work that deserves attention that people might not think about too often but fascinate me are:
- Digitally modelling something as complex as the ocean
- The incredible work that goes into creating novel sensors
- The insane difficulty of underwater autonomy
- Testing rigs that can replicate some of earth's harshest conditions
- How much data you can get from acoustics
- How hard it is to run a building with so many novel facilities
Hopefully by shedding light on the efforts of NOC's scientists, some of you who are less familiar with what we do can appreciate the dedication and innovation driving oceanographic research forward. While we may not always be aware of the intricacies of it, that work is in fact making a huge impact which is ever more important to highlight as we wrestle with the implications of the climate crisis.
Also if I can share cool pictures in my travels I will, Like this very Jaws like photo of one of our ALR's
