About the AUTHOR

I am a scientist, an educator, and a community organizer. In 2019 I was selected as one of NASA's Future Investigators in the FINESST Program. I am a proud Anteater and was recently awarded the UCI Public Impact Distinguished Fellowship. Born and raised in Brazil, I now call sunny California home. When not at work, I like to play outdoors and explore this beautiful planet with my family and friends.
I have worked with marine science and education for more than 15 years, and believe that most people sincerely care about the environment. Although often confused, overwhelmed, or discouraged in the face of current environmental problems and global climate change, most people want to do something positive in order to revert this crisis.
In many ways, I see myself as a science translator - someone who helps people interpret scientific information to understand how they can make a difference. I am a strong believer in the power of empathic communication and see social and racial justice not only as our moral responsibility but also as a path to solving the global environmental emergency that threatens the very survival our our species on Earth (to watch a talk a gave about that, click here).
2022 has been a busy year y'all: I started a radio show- the earth calling show- which I co-host with the most amazing friends at KUCI 88.9FM, and also started writing for the SLO Tribune as their AAAS Mass Media Fellow.
These days, when I am not in the field "catching plankton", in the lab studying these microorganisms, or in endless zoom meetings talking about phytoplankton and biogeochemistry, I can be found volunteering with some amazing peeps from Amigos de Bolsa Chica (ABC), the Newport Bay Conservancy (NBC) and other local environmental non-profit organizations.
In February of 2020, I co-organized with NBC and UCI's Ridge2Reef a Climate Solutions Conference that was da bomb! The event was the culmination of months of collaborative work by dozens of us and we were so happy to see it all come together on a sunny Saturday, when 250 members of the community showed up at Orange Coast Community College to discuss climate science, environmental justice, and the many changes that need to happen at individual, governmental, and societal levels for us to tackle the global climate emergency. You can learn more about Climate Solutions by visiting the online resources hub we created for that event here.
Then COVID-19 started. In collaboration with ABC and two amazing friends (marine scientist and educator Gwen Noda and National Geographic educator Kimi Waite, I developed and co-hosted a Summer Institute for Educators aimed at supporting teachers and informal educators to adjust to the pandemic. We focused on strategies for students to get the most out of the remote learning resources, and also discussed ways teachers could help students process and cope with important issues that this pandemic has laid bare: social, economic, and racial inequality and the practical and emotional challenges these injustices also create in the classroom, whether virtual or in-person. Finally, we covered self-care, something we know many educators don't get enough support to practice. You can find much of the resources we explored during this Institute here.
I am constantly looking for creative ways to promote and support environmental conservation and that's why I created this website: to share information, resources and opportunities for anyone interested in marine science, management and education.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in oceanography from the Federal University of Rio Grande, Brazil - where I am originally from - and a Master’s degree in Marine Science and Policy from the University of Delaware.
As a scientist, I have participated in a number of research projects, exploring topics ranging from marine plankton and invasive species to the value of open space and coastal management.
Undergraduate Thesis (Harmful algae occurrences in a marine aquaculture area in the South of Brazil)
Masters Thesis (Decision support model for the management of aquatic species introductions via ships' ballast water)
Coastal Management Assessment of Small Islands Developing States
Preliminary Plan for Invasive Fish Control and Eradication (Kauai, HI)
After I completed my master's degree, I served Hawaii’s State Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) as a Research Specialist where I developed a Chemical Toolbox for the Control of Aquatic Invasive Species.
In Southern California, I taught oceanography at a number of community colleges, and worked as science education and communication consultant for non-profit organizations. Working for Amigos de Bolsa Chica, I created FLOW, a Citizen Science program aimed at monitoring plankton and water quality, in support of the California Department of Public Health’s statewide marine biotoxin monitoring program. To learn more about FLOW, please visit our webpage and like us on Facebook.
But I love trying new things...
Also in collaboration with Amigos de Bolsa Chica, I co-produced with Endless Eye a documentary film about the 40-year history of the organization, which you can watch here.
I am a big fan of informal education, environmental volunteering, and citizen science and have witnessed how well-crafted efforts in these areas can democratize knowledge as a process, empower communities and serve as catalysts for change in both individual behavior and public policy.
I also enjoy studying about communication theory. A few years ago, I co-authored a paper with Prof. Raul Lejano (New York University) and Prof. Friket Berkes, (University of Manitoba), in which we addressed the roles of narrative form, structure and properties in the communication of climate science within both traditional and modern societies. In this research, we used narrative analysis to compare the ways in which cosmopolitan communities make sense of complex issues within the science discourse emerging from institutions such as the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and identified a number of narrative properties that could facilitate the integration of complex scientific issues such as climate change into our everyday narratives. You can read the article's abstract by clicking here.
I love working at the interface between science and art, and enjoy experimenting with new ways to get complex but important messages across. This website is certainly part of this experiment. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy putting it together.
Cheers!
Joana Flor Tavares
I have worked with marine science and education for more than 15 years, and believe that most people sincerely care about the environment. Although often confused, overwhelmed, or discouraged in the face of current environmental problems and global climate change, most people want to do something positive in order to revert this crisis.
In many ways, I see myself as a science translator - someone who helps people interpret scientific information to understand how they can make a difference. I am a strong believer in the power of empathic communication and see social and racial justice not only as our moral responsibility but also as a path to solving the global environmental emergency that threatens the very survival our our species on Earth (to watch a talk a gave about that, click here).
2022 has been a busy year y'all: I started a radio show- the earth calling show- which I co-host with the most amazing friends at KUCI 88.9FM, and also started writing for the SLO Tribune as their AAAS Mass Media Fellow.
These days, when I am not in the field "catching plankton", in the lab studying these microorganisms, or in endless zoom meetings talking about phytoplankton and biogeochemistry, I can be found volunteering with some amazing peeps from Amigos de Bolsa Chica (ABC), the Newport Bay Conservancy (NBC) and other local environmental non-profit organizations.
In February of 2020, I co-organized with NBC and UCI's Ridge2Reef a Climate Solutions Conference that was da bomb! The event was the culmination of months of collaborative work by dozens of us and we were so happy to see it all come together on a sunny Saturday, when 250 members of the community showed up at Orange Coast Community College to discuss climate science, environmental justice, and the many changes that need to happen at individual, governmental, and societal levels for us to tackle the global climate emergency. You can learn more about Climate Solutions by visiting the online resources hub we created for that event here.
Then COVID-19 started. In collaboration with ABC and two amazing friends (marine scientist and educator Gwen Noda and National Geographic educator Kimi Waite, I developed and co-hosted a Summer Institute for Educators aimed at supporting teachers and informal educators to adjust to the pandemic. We focused on strategies for students to get the most out of the remote learning resources, and also discussed ways teachers could help students process and cope with important issues that this pandemic has laid bare: social, economic, and racial inequality and the practical and emotional challenges these injustices also create in the classroom, whether virtual or in-person. Finally, we covered self-care, something we know many educators don't get enough support to practice. You can find much of the resources we explored during this Institute here.
I am constantly looking for creative ways to promote and support environmental conservation and that's why I created this website: to share information, resources and opportunities for anyone interested in marine science, management and education.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in oceanography from the Federal University of Rio Grande, Brazil - where I am originally from - and a Master’s degree in Marine Science and Policy from the University of Delaware.
As a scientist, I have participated in a number of research projects, exploring topics ranging from marine plankton and invasive species to the value of open space and coastal management.
Undergraduate Thesis (Harmful algae occurrences in a marine aquaculture area in the South of Brazil)
Masters Thesis (Decision support model for the management of aquatic species introductions via ships' ballast water)
Coastal Management Assessment of Small Islands Developing States
Preliminary Plan for Invasive Fish Control and Eradication (Kauai, HI)
After I completed my master's degree, I served Hawaii’s State Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) as a Research Specialist where I developed a Chemical Toolbox for the Control of Aquatic Invasive Species.
In Southern California, I taught oceanography at a number of community colleges, and worked as science education and communication consultant for non-profit organizations. Working for Amigos de Bolsa Chica, I created FLOW, a Citizen Science program aimed at monitoring plankton and water quality, in support of the California Department of Public Health’s statewide marine biotoxin monitoring program. To learn more about FLOW, please visit our webpage and like us on Facebook.
But I love trying new things...
Also in collaboration with Amigos de Bolsa Chica, I co-produced with Endless Eye a documentary film about the 40-year history of the organization, which you can watch here.
I am a big fan of informal education, environmental volunteering, and citizen science and have witnessed how well-crafted efforts in these areas can democratize knowledge as a process, empower communities and serve as catalysts for change in both individual behavior and public policy.
I also enjoy studying about communication theory. A few years ago, I co-authored a paper with Prof. Raul Lejano (New York University) and Prof. Friket Berkes, (University of Manitoba), in which we addressed the roles of narrative form, structure and properties in the communication of climate science within both traditional and modern societies. In this research, we used narrative analysis to compare the ways in which cosmopolitan communities make sense of complex issues within the science discourse emerging from institutions such as the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and identified a number of narrative properties that could facilitate the integration of complex scientific issues such as climate change into our everyday narratives. You can read the article's abstract by clicking here.
I love working at the interface between science and art, and enjoy experimenting with new ways to get complex but important messages across. This website is certainly part of this experiment. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy putting it together.
Cheers!
Joana Flor Tavares