About
Hello!
Thank you so much for expressing an interest in Green Catch: Sustaining Blue by Catching Green. This project is the result of many hours of work, research, and collaboration with a variety of individuals. It also is the result of one girl’s passion for the ocean, its beauty, and its preservation.
As a little girl, I loved the ocean. Almost every summer, my family would vacation in Pacific Grove, CA. I remember spending hours making sandcastles, exploring tide pools, and dodging waves; the bike rides, seafood restaurants, and sunsets along the coast. But most of all I remember the trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium where at every visit, there was always something new and exciting to explore. I think I was borne with an innate affinity for the sea, but there is no doubt in my mind that this was cultivated into a passion throughout my childhood.
I was a swim team member for much of my life, and continue to swim for fun. I also love music, having sung all my life, even performing in such places as Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry. I played the Japanese instrument, Koto, and the clarinet for six years, too. Nevertheless, science remains my passion, and now, as a college undergraduate, I still wish to pursue the dream I had as a 5- year-old-girl who liked to use big words; I still want to be a marine biologist. But attaining this dream requires much work, and even back in high school I wanted to get started. Being a Girl Scout, I saw my Gold Award project as the perfect opportunity.
However, I had no idea what ocean-related topic I wanted to choose for my project. But, being a self-named “foodie”, I began focusing on restaurants. I noticed a gap in consumer knowledge. “How come,” I wondered, “grocery stores and markets display where their seafood comes from and how it is caught, but restaurants do not show anything?” This seemed extremely inconsistent and I began asking questions, discovering this: most restaurants do not even know about the origins of the seafood they serve and some do not even have a consistent seafood supplier. This, I realized, was a big problem.
And so I strove to fix this problem through my Gold Award project. The best way to do this seemed to be through education. Working with Seafood Watch, I designed Green Catch to educate, advocate, and help alleviate this issue. Green Catch utilizes a variety of materials to reach the student, the educator, and their families and friends. Green Catch communicates a universal message that has the potential to instill responsibility within our society. As I look toward the future, to graduate school and beyond, I know that though only in college, I am already beginning to make my childhood dream a reality.