WEBVTT - Kelly Benoit-Bird: MacArthur-Winning Marine Scientist 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:07.440 You know, it's really only a generation or so before 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.719 mine that women were prohibited from going to see on 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:14.120 some vessels, or restricted to their movements while they were 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.480 out in the ship. One of my mentors tells a 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:18.560 story of having to sleep in a tent on the 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:21.119 deck of the boat because she wasn't allowed below tex 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:24.200 How can you study the ocean if you're not allowed 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:30.120 to be there? That was Dr Kelly Benoit Berg talking 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:34.680 about the obstacles women have faced in her field marine science. 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.920 But like the women who came before her, Kelly hasn't 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:43.680 let challenge is stop her. Her research has greatly expanded 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:47.880 our knowledge of the oceans and its creatures and how 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.600 we can save them from the threats of climate change. 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:56.160 I'm a land revere and this is senecas one women 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:59.320 to hear. We are bringing you one hundred of the 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.960 world's inspiring and history making women you need to hear. 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:09.600 Kelly Benoit Bird is senior scientist at the Monterey Bay 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:16.120 Aquarium Research Institute. Her work focuses primarily on using acoustics 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:21.840 to determine how marine creatures, including squid, dolphin, and wales, 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:28.760 respond to constantly changing environments. For her innovative research. She's 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:33.319 been awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. She's also given a 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:38.839 popular tip talk Listen and learn why Kelly Benoit Bird 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:46.280 is one of Seneca's Women to Hear. I'm speaking today 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:50.880 to marine biologists and senior scientists at the Monterey Bay 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:57.800 Aquarium Research Institute. Dr Kelly Benoit Bird. Welcome so much, Kelly, 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:00.280 thank you so much for having me today. You know, 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:04.880 at this moment, when climate change is such a priority, 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.600 really the existential threat of our lives, why is it 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:12.520 so important to study the oceans and their inhabitants as well. 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.480 You know, we used to think of the ocean as 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:19.240 inexhaustible and really too big for us to have a 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.640 big impact on. And in fact, the ocean has buffered 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:27.080 us from the worst of climate change, taking up of 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:30.880 the heat from global warming and absorbing of the fossil 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:33.839 fuels we emit each year. But it hasn't done so 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:39.040 without a big cost. Changing the ocean circulation with sea 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:44.200 i smelting, changing how nutrient is transported, lowering the oceans 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:49.240 pH and oxygen levels, and reducing the biodiversity and resilience 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:52.360 um as well as decreasing our fish stocks and changing 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:56.679 where those fish are found. And the ocean really provides 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:00.600 us critical life support. It produces fifty percent of the 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:04.520 oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere and provides nearly a fifth 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.680 of human protein intake. While climate change is one of 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:14.480 just many threats the ocean is facing, like over fishing, species, invasions, pollution, 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:18.280 and plastics. These are all compounded by climate change, so 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:22.320 there's really a kind of triple threat happening. We urgently 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.680 need information to effectively steward the ocean for the health 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.360 of the planet and for all of humankind. Well, that 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:34.000 response is so on target, I think, to wake us 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:37.360 all up as to what an incredibly important role the 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:41.120 oceans play, but also how much worse we can see 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:45.040 climate change by what's happening to the oceans. As you said, now, 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:48.280 I know you first got interested in marine biology because 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:51.400 of whales. Can you tell us a little bit about 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:55.320 your childhood and what got you into this field. Well, 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.160 when I was in the fourth grade, I got to 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:00.880 take my first airplane trip with my family to visit 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:04.880 a marine park, and I was really fascinated by learning 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:09.240 about how dolphins and toothed whales used sound to explore 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:13.080 their world through a process we call echolocation or bio sonar, 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:17.120 and the idea that their world was just so different 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.760 from ours that they needed a different way of seeing 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:24.960 than using their eyes. UM just released this huge amount 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.080 of curiosity. So I came home and read every book 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.279 and our small city library on the ocean, on sound, 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:34.360 on marine mammals, and was just left with a huge 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:38.600 array of questions. But you know, I really didn't understand 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.360 how I could turn that into a career. Didn't really 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.279 know that science wasn't just a collection of information in 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:48.080 a book, but really something you do write. Science is 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.800 not just a static thing, it's really a verb. As 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:54.120 the first person in my family to go to college, 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:56.000 I didn't have a lot of role models for how 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:59.600 to turn that sort of intellectual curiosity into something I 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:03.480 could get paid to do. But I was really fortunate 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:07.360 as a college student to have research experiences that showed 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.440 me a variety of ways that I could get paid 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:13.400 for being curious and contributing to the development of new ideas. 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:18.039 Was your family surprised by your career choice? Oh yeah, 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:21.120 my family always They always thought I would have a 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:24.559 career connected to art um. In fact, as a college student. 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:26.720 I helped pay my way through school by working as 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:30.560 a scientific illustrator. So my parents didn't really understand why 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:33.320 I wanted to continue going to school as a graduate 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:37.839 student instead of taking a job offer with a book publisher. UM. 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.360 It was really an uncharted path for them as well, 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:43.880 and I'm certain they're very, very proud of you today. 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:48.400 Your particular area of focus is acoustics and the use 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:52.240 of high tech engineering. What have you discovered by using 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.960 acoustics In my work, I use sound in a way 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.800 that is very much similar to how dolphins use sound. 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:02.840 We use sonar to map life in the ocean. We 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.359 send out really short pulses of sound and then we 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.719 listen for how those sounds interact with the environment to 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:13.000 try to understand what animals are doing in the ocean. UM. 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.640 When sonar like this first came into wider applications and 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.320 the nineteen forties, as the result of World War Two, 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:23.839 these military so in our operators discovered what they previously 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:27.480 thought was the sea floor UM becoming shallower at night. 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.640 And of course we know that the sea floor doesn't 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.839 move that quickly. That is not a geologic time scale UM, 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.360 and so the biologists started to be able to describe 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.680 how this was a layer of life that moved upwards 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.400 at night and down during the day. And this scattering layer, 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:47.440 made up of fish and crustaceans like shrimp and squid 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.240 and other animals, are really found throughout all of the 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:55.440 world's oceans and are the largest untapped biomass of animals 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:58.640 that we have on our planet, with ten billion tons 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:02.640 of resources. We're now learning that these animals play a 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.400 really important role in the carbon pump that helps to 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:09.359 regulate our climate, and are really critical food resources for 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.760 many of the fish that end up on your dinner plate, 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:16.320 like tuna and salmon, but also seabirds like penguins and seals, 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:20.760 whales and dolphins. So what's interesting is that despite how 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:25.280 important these animals are, the mesopelagic or midwater zone where 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.600 they live is one of the least investigated components of 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:32.920 the Earth's system. So we're looking now at why these 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.760 animals migrate up and down, how far they do that 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:39.240 when they decide not to, and are really understanding just 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:42.760 how variable this is. Um You might not think moving 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.000 up and down a thousand feet every day is a 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:48.120 really big deal, but if you think about this on 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.760 a human scale. These migrations are the equivalent of you 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.760 running a ten k twice a day, once for your 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:57.680 dinner and once before you go to bed. And so 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:01.080 this is a really important sort of bio logical conveyor 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:06.640 belt in the world's ocean. It's just fascinating, so interesting, 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:11.640 and you're continuing to work on this particular area. Absolutely, 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:15.880 we're really developing new tools that can give us a 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.480 new perspective to to get a fish eye view of 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:23.560 life beneath the surface of the waves, to understand what 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.480 role biology plays and the oceans effect on climate, and 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:31.320 are starting to grasp just how important these animals are. Well. 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:34.960 That concept of a fish eye view, it's really interesting 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:38.920 to think about. Were there any particular hurdles that you 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:42.800 confronted because you're a woman in this field. You know, 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:46.040 it's really only a generation or so before mine that 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.360 women were prohibited from going to see on some vessels 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:52.280 or restricted to their movements while they were out in 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.120 the ship. One of my mentors tells the story of 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:57.040 having to sleep in a tent on the deck of 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:00.439 the boat because she wasn't allowed below decks. How can 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:04.120 you study the ocean if you're not allowed to be there. Well. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.000 Of course these rules around going to see have changed, 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.960 the attitudes haven't always caught up, and that can be 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:13.120 really challenging when you're out for weeks and a small space, 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:16.720 under pressure and really need to work as a team 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.160 for success as well as safety. Do we need to 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:24.320 have more women in marine biology? Oh? Absolutely. You know, 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.320 I've been really fortunate throughout my career to have had 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.080 women a stepper a few ahead of me on the 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:33.400 path who generously reached down the ladder to help lift 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:36.000 me up and provide a model of how to do 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:40.240 hard things in a way that felt authentic to me. Um. 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.680 You know, I have also had had senior mentors who 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.480 believed in me and encouraged me when I need to 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:51.280 push champion meeting others, and really everyone needs to have that. 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:55.120 We need everyone to help solve the great challenges our 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:59.800 planet faces. In biology, bio diversity is used as a 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.120 metric of the health and ecosystem. You know this idea 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:07.120 that the presence of each species really affects the outcome. 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:11.720 For example, when we reintroduce sea honors and to Monterey Bay, 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.880 their presence made the entire monterate Bay ecosystem more resilient 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:20.319 and healthier. And I think that concept of diversity is 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.040 true in the health of science as well. We need 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:27.280 all of these different and diverse voices because our different 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:31.160 backgrounds and our lived experiences shape the questions we asked 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.360 and how we see the answers that we get. So 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:36.960 we need those different ways of seeing to identify the 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:41.920 most important problems and develop practical solutions. It's well said, 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:46.040 and really it does represent the need for diversity across 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:50.160 all fields, and your description appropriate to marine biology. It's 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:56.160 really something I think our listeners can truly understand. Seedecas 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.640 one hundred women to hear. Will be back after the 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:10.720 short break. M But were some of the people who 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:14.800 influenced you specifically? You mentioned having mentors and how important 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.280 they were. Well, I don't want to leave everyone else, 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.400 so I just want to give a couple of examples 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:23.599 of you know, those creative, powerful women in ocean sciences 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:26.080 that have helped to lift me along the way. Jane 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:31.040 Ubchenko is one example. She's a remarkable ecologist and educator 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:35.320 who has served in many national roles, including the US 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:38.560 Science enjoy for the Ocean. She's been a model for 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.000 me and how she's balanced her career and her family 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:46.120 along with her research partner husband, and at a time 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.600 when I was personally struggling with how I was viewed 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.920 by others and how that was impacting my career, she 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:56.000 gave me really practical guidance and encouragement that helped me 0:11:56.040 --> 0:12:00.920 find a pathway around that obstacle. Another example is Julie Packard, 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:04.079 who's one of the founders of the Monterey Bay Aquarium 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:08.319 and her commitment to engaging diverse stakeholders and ocean conservation 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.760 and to creating change by helping to connect people to 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.800 the ocean to help them understand just how important it 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.040 is to all of us, no matter where they live, 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:21.960 really challenges me to sharpen the so what messages of 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.280 my research to help people understand just how important it 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.880 is for life on our planet that we understand the 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:33.120 largest living space on it, the ocean. I know you 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:37.440 love one of MacArthur Genius Grant in two thousand and ten, 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:42.040 and that is one of the most extraordinary achievements in 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:46.080 terms of awards that one can get because it's you know, 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.920 and perhaps our listeners don't that it's not something you 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.960 apply for your work comes to the fore and you're 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:57.880 selected over a period of time for the extraordinary work 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:02.040 one does, hence a genius And has that changed your 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.920 life in any way? Yeah? Absolutely. You know, one of 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:09.080 the greatest things about the MacArthur Fellowship is that it's 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.559 no strengths attached. It really let me take on some 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:16.000 risks in my work that wouldn't have been possible through 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.680 more traditional means of funding, and that really helped me 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.520 to find my voice in science. When that fellowship ended 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.360 after five years, it kind of gave me the freedom 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.960 to take on some new challenges and I moved from 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.280 an academic setting at a university where I was a 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:34.959 professor to and Bury, where that risk is really an 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:38.800 explicit part of the job description, and that has allowed 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.280 me to take a different tax with my work, and 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:44.400 where I've been focusing on trying to see the ocean 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:48.440 from the perspective of its inhabitants and really pushing against 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:52.000 the history of oceanography which is largely be bottom up 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:54.520 thinking about the physics and the chemistry and treating the 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:58.440 biology as passive and trying to see what we can 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.040 actually learn from the animals. Think they have a lot 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.480 to teach us if we can figure out how to listen. 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.480 So it really did open up a whole new area 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:11.880 for you to to focus on. Very exciting. If you 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:15.880 could tell our listeners just one thing, but you can 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:18.240 add more than one if you'd like, But just one 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.280 thing that we could all do to protect the oceans. 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:25.160 What would that be? Because this is such a challenge 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:31.400 climate change and specifically focused on oceans. As this conversation is, 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:34.840 perhaps you could help us think about the role we 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.440 could play well. I would say to the young women 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:42.040 who have a passion for asking questions, we need your 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:46.640 perspective and your voice and science and engineering and science communication, 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:50.560 ocean policy and education. UM. For those of you who 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.440 are a little further along in your career path, I 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.920 want to challenge you to take on the opportunity to 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:00.280 lift others. You know, I remember my second grade you're 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.680 saying to me when you go to college, and that 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.560 gave me a new view of what was possible for 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:10.040 me and really opened up my opportunities. But you really 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.280 don't have to be a teacher to mentor or pave 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.120 a path for others. So think about how to best 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:20.040 use your talents and resources to invest in an individual 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:22.240 to help make a better future for all of us. 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:27.120 And certainly the STEM field is all important to encourage 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:31.000 young people to pursue and particularly women and others who 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:35.480 may not be as engaged as they could be. You know, 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.560 we often see ads of one kind or another that 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:43.920 show how much debris the ocean is being attacked with. 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.880 If you will, you mentioned plastics at one point. Are 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.920 there things that that we can all do to ensure 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:56.640 a better environment around our oceans? Well, we can, you know, 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.440 each take individual action, certainly, but I think the biggest 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.840 things have to be done at a larger scale. So 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:05.600 the most important thing that we can all do is 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:09.520 use our voices, whether that's through voting, whether that's through 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.920 expressing to our elected representatives that the ocean is important 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.600 to us. By sharing our passion with others, that's how 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:21.560 we can collectively make a big impact. Well, these are 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:27.880 certainly challenging times, and here in every response you make 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.280 in this conversation, just a passion for what you do 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:35.240 and a commitment to doing it. So let me ask, finally, 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.520 what gives you hope? Well, I want to start by 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:42.440 acknowledging that sometimes it is hard to feel hopeful climate change, 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.120 plastic pollution, and all these other threats we've talked about 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:49.760 today facing our oceans are so called wicked problems, but 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:54.800 throughout human history, science and innovation have really been used 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:59.160 to help us provide solutions to enormous challenges. Of course, 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:02.440 it's sept a people to apply the information and tools 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:06.119 that science has to offer, but it's really hopeful that 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:10.240 the ocean is being recognized by governmental organizations for the 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:14.000 key role at place in all of our health. For example, 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:16.720 we're currently in the midst of the u N Decade 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:21.240 for the Oceans, and I'm really encouraged by the growing 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:26.719 recognition that I've witnessed around welcoming new voices to the discussion, 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:30.760 building new capacity and communities that haven't been engaged in 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:33.440 these issues in the past, because we do need everyone 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:37.440 to work together on these problems, bringing together science and 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:42.520 technology with social and policy change, and all of that 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:47.000 really starts with recognizing that we're all connected to the ocean, 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:50.640 and it's a call to action for all of us 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.480 for sure. Thank you so much, Kelly Benoit Bird for 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.240 being with us today. Thank you for all you do. 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:03.040 Thank you, ambassador. It's been my pleasure. What a refreshing 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.800 change of perspective to see the world from the depths 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:11.080 of the ocean thanks to Kelly thennoy Bird. There are 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:16.640 three things I took from that conversation. First, Kelly's work 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:22.000 shows how interrelated and interdependent we all are, from the 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:25.720 tiniest creatures in the ocean to the biggest mammals on Earth. 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:30.000 Every form of life has a role to play, and 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:33.479 what happens to them can affect our food supply and 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:39.639 our environment. Second, Kelly reminds us why it's so important 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.240 to have a women's point of view and science to 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:47.320 bring in different ways of seeing problems and solutions, and 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:53.680 why mentors are so crucial for women getting into the field. Finally, 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:58.600 Kelly cautions us not to give into pessimism despite all 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.919 the dire reports of out climate change. The most important 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.000 thing we can do, she says, is to use our 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:11.159 voices through voting and sharing our opinions with elected officials 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:15.840 and with everyone we know. Tune in next week to 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.639 hear about our next featured woman and discover why she's 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:25.120 one of Seneca's Women to Hear. Seneca's one hundred Women 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:27.960 to Hear is a collaboration between the Seneca Women Podcast 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.280 Network and I Heart Radio, with support from founding partner PNG. 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:35.760 Have a great day.