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June 2019

Meet five Edinburgh alumni working to save our oceans in different ways.

Saving our oceans

With a nod to World Oceans Day, which falls on 8 June each year, our featured alumni this month are all engaged in protecting our oceans - whether working with costal communities to rebuild tropical fisheries, helping to produce a flagship BBC natural history documentary or funding the collection of ocean-bound plastic through sustainable bottle sales.

Find out what our graduates from the Schools of GeoSciences, Biological Sciences and History are doing to improve the health of our oceans for the benefit of everyone.

Erin McFadden

Erin McFadden

Days after submitting her MSc Marine Systems and Policies dissertation, Erin McFadden embarked on a new career path as part of the Frozen Planet II production team with the BBC Natural History Unit.

Read Erin McFadden's profile.

My role as a Researcher involves a lot more than researching new stories: it encompasses every stage of pre and post production, and luckily for me it involves a lot of time in locations most people just cannot get to.

Erin McFadden

Alasdair Harris

Headshot of Al Harris

Zoology graduate Dr Alasdair Harris set up social enterprise Blue Ventures in 2003. Years on, its mission to rebuild tropical fisheries with coastal communities has never been so urgent, or so critical.

Read Alasdair Harris's profile.

It’s been an exhilarating journey, that was only possible because of Edinburgh’s audacity in backing an idea and a dream.

Alasdair HarrisCo-founder and Executive Director of Blue Ventures

Rachel Graham

Rachel Graham headshot

MSc graduate Dr Rachel Graham founded and directs the non-governmental organisation MarAlliance, working to secure a future for large marine wildlife in collaboration with fishers and coastal communities.

Read Dr Rachel Graham's profile.

[...] I founded the non-governmental organization (NGO) MarAlliance in 2014 to [...] be better positioned at the frontline of conservation and management-driven research. I started with three people in 2014. We are now 35 and are based in four countries.

Rachel T Graham, PhDFounder and Executive Director of MarAlliance

Maximiliano Bello

Max Bello with camera

Maximiliano Bello, Principal Officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts, has been instrumental in expanding marine protected areas around the world. This year will see him take a leading role at COP25, the UN Climate Change Conference in Chile.

Read Maximiliano Bello's profile.

The world needs devoted, passionate people and people who challenge the way we understand this society.

Maximiliano BelloPrincipal Officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts

Nick Doman

Nick Doman next to an advert for Ocean Bottle

Nick Doman reflects on his "unorthodox" path from history student to co-founder of sustainable reusable bottle company, Ocean Bottle.

Read Nick Doman's profile.

After four months of bottles sales we have funded collection [of ocean-bound plastic] equivalent to over six million plastic bottles and hope to be collecting three billion a year by 2023.

Nick DomanCo-founder of Ocean Bottle

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