OCEAN WISE

Conservation, community, and comfort

OCEAN WISE

Conservation, community, and comfort

At Native Shoes, we’re always happiest by the water, so we met up with Brianne from Ocean Wise to talk about conservation, comfort, and all the strange and wonderful things to be found in tide pools.

Ocean Wise builds communities that take meaningful action to protect and restore our oceans; monitoring and protecting whales, fighting climate change and restoring biodiversity, and educating and empowering youth.

The Whale Trail is a non-profit organization, with the mission to inspire appreciation and stewardship of orcas and other marine mammals by establishing sites along the Pacific Coast to view whales migrating throughout the year.

At Native Shoes, we’re always happiest by the water, so we met up with Brianne from Ocean Wise to talk about conservation, comfort, and all the strange and wonderful things to be found in tide pools.

Ocean Wise builds communities that take meaningful action to protect and restore our oceans; monitoring and protecting whales, fighting climate change and restoring biodiversity, and educating and empowering youth.

The Whale Trail is a non-profit organization, with the mission to inspire appreciation and stewardship of orcas and other marine mammals by establishing sites along the Pacific Coast to view whales migrating throughout the year.

What first got you interested in working with Ocean Wise, and how did your journey lead you to where you are today?

Brianne: I have always been passionate about the ocean ever since I was a little kid, and I really fell in love with science communication in university. So I moved out here, and had the opportunity to work in marine conservation spaces for my career. With Ocean Wise, I get to be a part of that mission; I get to be a part of inspiring that next generation of change makers who also love the ocean. And I love tide pooling and looking for freaky little creatures and weird shells and bones wherever I can.

What first got you interested in working with Ocean Wise, and how did your journey lead you to where you are today?

Brianne: I have always been passionate about the ocean ever since I was a little kid, and I really fell in love with science communication in university. So I moved out here, and had the opportunity to work in marine conservation spaces for my career. With Ocean Wise, I get to be a part of that mission; I get to be a part of inspiring that next generation of change makers who also love the ocean. And I love tide pooling and looking for freaky little creatures and weird shells and bones wherever I can.

Could you tell us a little bit about like what your day to day is as an ocean educator?

Brianne: My days are always very different. One day I might be teaching at an elementary school or a high school, the next I might be repairing whale bone artifacts or sea otter pelts in our office. Another day I might be researching and developing new education programs that we can deliver across Canada, so my days are always looking very different depending on what we’ve got going on.

Could you tell us a little bit about like what your day to day is as an ocean educator?

Brianne: My days are always very different. One day I might be teaching at an elementary school or a high school, the next I might be repairing whale bone artifacts or sea otter pelts in our office. Another day I might be researching and developing new education programs that we can deliver across Canada, so my days are always looking very different depending on what we’ve got going on.

How do you hope the work that you do with Ocean Wise and Whale Trails inspires people to make a difference in their own community?

Brianne: I think the biggest piece is that we really want people to get out in nature and make a personalized connection with the ocean and the incredible animals that live there, because they’re so important. We need the ocean, and the ocean really needs us right now, so inspiring people to go out and participate in something like land based whale watching can create a personalized story with these animals. You can actually take part in action, whether it’s reducing your carbon footprint or reporting a whale sighting on our Whale Report app. Any small piece that we can do to change somebody’s action and want to be a part of our work is why this sort of project, like the Whale Trail, is so important.

What do community and comfort mean to you?

Brianne: Community is probably the most important thing in the world to me. I really believe in building genuine connections with other people and showing up for everyone whenever you can. So I try to treat everyone how I want to be treated and show up as best as I can, because I want the world to be this idyllic and amazing place.

I really prioritize feeling comfortable in myself, feeling comfortable in my clothes, to feel safe and grounded. So when it comes to things like the shoes that are on my feet, I need to make sure that I can stand for ten to twelve hours at a time, whether I’m teaching at a school or ripping it out on the trails, checking out our whale trail locations. I need to make sure that what I’m wearing is going to keep me comfortable all day, and I don’t even have to think about it twice.

Would you say the Lennox helps you do that?

Brianne: Yeah, the Lennox are fantastic, they’ve got really great cushion support on the bottom, and some great arch support happening as well. I put them on and don’t have to worry about these shoes getting wet, and know that they’re going to support me in all of my tide pooling and ocean adventures.

Check out the full interview on our Instagram, and follow @oceanwise and @thewhaletrailorg for more on how you can get involved in ocean conservation.

How do you hope the work that you do with Ocean Wise and Whale Trails inspires people to make a difference in their own community?

Brianne: I think the biggest piece is that we really want people to get out in nature and make a personalized connection with the ocean and the incredible animals that live there, because they’re so important. We need the ocean, and the ocean really needs us right now, so inspiring people to go out and participate in something like land based whale watching can create a personalized story with these animals. You can actually take part in action, whether it’s reducing your carbon footprint or reporting a whale sighting on our Whale Report app. Any small piece that we can do to change somebody’s action and want to be a part of our work is why this sort of project, like the Whale Trail, is so important.

What do community and comfort mean to you?

Brianne: Community is probably the most important thing in the world to me. I really believe in building genuine connections with other people and showing up for everyone whenever you can. So I try to treat everyone how I want to be treated and show up as best as I can, because I want the world to be this idyllic and amazing place.

I really prioritize feeling comfortable in myself, feeling comfortable in my clothes, to feel safe and grounded. So when it comes to things like the shoes that are on my feet, I need to make sure that I can stand for ten to twelve hours at a time, whether I’m teaching at a school or ripping it out on the trails, checking out our whale trail locations. I need to make sure that what I’m wearing is going to keep me comfortable all day, and I don’t even have to think about it twice.

Would you say the Lennox helps you do that?

Brianne: Yeah, the Lennox are fantastic, they’ve got really great cushion support on the bottom, and some great arch support happening as well. I put them on and don’t have to worry about these shoes getting wet, and know that they’re going to support me in all of my tide pooling and ocean adventures.

Check out the full interview on our Instagram, and follow @oceanwise and @thewhaletrailorg for more on how you can get involved in ocean conservation.