Exactly ten years ago, I met Eric Stackpole. We were introduced by a mutual friend who suspected we’d get along due to our overlapping interests in ocean exploration and technology: “You should meet a friend of mine who is building a submarine robot in his garage.” he said. The meeting…

A 21st Century approach to scaling impact. — Receiving an email at 4:45am isn’t usually cause for excitement. But for Mrs. Casuga, a high school teacher in Hayward, CA, it was a big deal. This early-morning notification delivered unexpected and important news: her class project on DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding website for high school teachers, was fully funded. Her…

Scientists and engineers are building new tools — and a new way of thinking — to protect the natural world: Conservation technology is on the rise — “We’ve never seen this before,” Roland Knapp said from behind his head-mounted screen display. “There’s an aggregation of at least 300 tadpoles here, depth of four meters, temperature is four degrees Celsius.” We couldn’t see what was on his screen. Our view was the vast, snow-covered expanse of backcountry Yosemite…

I submitted the following statement to the Subcommittee on Environment Committee on Science, Space, and Technology as part of a House hearing: Ocean Exploration: Diving to New Depths and Discoveries. Chairwoman Fletcher, Ranking Member Marshall, members of the Environment Subcommittee, and members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and…

We built the Open Explorer platform to empower the next generation of global explorers. — There has never been a better time to be a curious person. Science has pushed our collective understanding further than we thought possible, but even as science races ahead, there’s a persistent hindrance to our progress: access. …

Last week, TechShop announced that it was shutting the doors of its locations around the country, and filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. The announcement rippled through the maker world with stunned sadness. TechShop, for the uninitiated, was a central pillar of what the “Maker Movement” was all about: they were…

Throughout human history, there’s never been a better time to be a creative person. In a world that’s constantly reminding you of everything that’s going wrong, it’s worth bringing up that simple point. If you have an idea — from the quirky to the bold — it’s easier than ever…

A playbook for turning administrative headwinds into lasting marine conservation and protection. — First the bad news. The public comment period for Executive Order 13795, which puts all the designated Marine Monuments (since April 2007) under review, is now closed. Over 400,000,000 square acres of newly designated marine protected areas in US coastal waters are now up for grabs. But there is hopefull…

Why it matters now more than ever. — Earlier this week, Janet Coffey published a piece on the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation website explaining the foundation’s thinking behind funding Science Learning. At any age, puzzlements and curiosities propel our efforts to learn science. Unfortunately, too often, these drivers fall way to facts and information. “Science” becomes a…