OCEANX EDUCATION
Ocean Futures Fellowship
For the ocean, for our future.
For the ocean, for our future.
The path to a sustainable ocean begins by investing in the next generation of ocean leaders. These are the people who will drive innovation, inspire global audiences, and expand ocean literacy to foster protection and stewardship.
The Ocean Futures Fellowship convenes talented early-career professionals, embedding them in the OceanX ecosystem to foster leadership and develop a robust ocean talent pipeline. For one full year, Fellows work on independent capstone projects, participate in professional development workshops, and receive mentorship from OceanX’s broad-reaching network, all while immersed within the teams focused on advancing ocean education and research around the globe.
Fellows work across disciplines, from AI and data, to marketing and digital media and immersive content development, because we all have a part to play in the ocean’s future.
Elevate professional capabilities in ocean leadership, collaborative strategy, and impactful ocean communication.
Contribute to the mission of prioritizing the oceans’ future through hands-on projects, professional development workshops, and mentorship.
Learn from a variety of OceanX teams and partners.
Receive a monthly stipend.
Potential opportunity to travel on board the OceanXplorer vessel or OceanX programs within the duration of the fellowship.
Ocean Futures Fellows are selected by IIE and OceanX Education to bring diverse skills and perspectives to the ocean talent ecosystem and develop their expertise so we can all further the mission of advancing ocean science, storytelling, and conservation.
Our fellows are:
Journalists, digital creators, and media professionals who translate complex ocean science and expedition findings into clear, engaging stories for the public.
Designers and developers working in XR, game design, and UX/UI who create immersive content and experiences that bring ocean exploration and education to new audiences.
Machine learning engineers, data scientists, and researchers who develop and apply multimodal AI systems, reasoning across imagery, acoustics, bathymetry, eDNA, and other ocean-relevant data, to accelerate scientific discovery and insight.
Digital asset management practitioners who organize, catalog, and preserve media archives for long-term storytelling, licensing, and educational use.
Communicators and content creators who plan and execute campaigns, craft copy across channels, and track audience engagement to raise awareness of OceanX's work.
Individuals with experience in fundraising, partnerships, or relationship management who support external engagement — from donor research to proposal development.
Fellows are guided with mentors to develop capstone projects that will be showcased at the end of the fellowship. The capstone project aims to:
Integrate Learning: Synthesize fellowship insights into a project that drives community ocean action.
Demonstrate Leadership: Lead collaboratively and mobilize others toward a shared ocean goal.
Advance Impact: Deliver a project that measurably improves ocean health and marine biodiversity.
"I Am Kelp" invites users to embody a giant kelp forest as it rises and falls with the current, all while facing real threats like urchin invasions that put marine ecosystems at risk. Through this immersive 3D installation, players experience firsthand the fragility and resilience of kelp forests, building a deeper connection to their restoration. The project was brought to life by Immersive Media Fellows Lewis Kimaru and Ram Murugan.
This documentary follows the full spectrum of ocean filmmaking aboard OceanXplorer, from scuba divers to submersibles to deep-sea ROVs, revealing how technology and human persistence turn observation into understanding, and understanding into care. The film was directed by science communicator Aamirah Isaacs as her capstone project for the Ocean Futures Fellowship, in partnership with the Institute of International Education.
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