Students learn to love the ocean
Kanchan Lal in front of a Sea Smart-themed MODO van. Photo submitted by Kanchan
By Patricia Lane & Kanchan Lal
Kanchan Lal helps young people fall in love with the ocean. As managing director of Vancouver-based Sea Smart, she oversees programs that inspire thousands of students to explore, understand and protect marine life and coastal ecosystems.
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After 15 years of studying threatened marine animals, Dr. Elaine Leung was heartbroken to realize that more than 30 of the species with which she had interacted would go extinct within her lifetime. At the same time, climate anxiety is wreaking havoc on people’s mental health, especially if they are young. Dr Leung founded Sea Smart to help meet both these challenges by giving youths the knowledge and tools to take action to protect the ocean.
Since 2016, Sea Smart’s programs, including school workshops and summer camps, have reached 43,000 kids, and our online programs have reached an additional one million worldwide. We focus on women and girls as they are disproportionately represented in the fields of science, technology, environment and mathematics. Our programs are accessible to all individuals, offering low cost and often no fees, making environmental education accessible to all.