I have always believed that the most important ocean scientist alive today might be a kid who hasn't been given the chance to prove it yet. That belief is what our citizen science program is built on. And every time I watch a student lean over the side of a boat, water sample in hand, logging real data into a real database — I become more certain I am right.

We have a problem in ocean conservation. There are not enough professional scientists to monitor every coastline, every kelp bed, every water column that needs watching. The ocean is enormous. The threats to it are accelerating. And the research institutions — as brilliant as they are — simply cannot be everywhere at once.

That is where citizen science comes in. And that is exactly why we built it into the heart of My Clean Ocean.

Citizen science is real scientific research carried out — at least in part — by everyday people who are not professional researchers. It is not a school project. It is not a simulation. The data is real, the methodology is real, and the findings contribute to actual scientific databases used by researchers, policy makers, and conservation organizations around the world.

In our case, that means students — mostly youth from Southern California — going out on the water, collecting pH, salinity, and temperature readings, scanning for microplastics, documenting marine species on camera, and uploading everything to global databases like Clean Swell. Their names go on the data. Their observations matter.

When students join one of our expeditions — out of Crystal Cove or heading toward Laguna — they are not passengers. They are the crew. Before we even leave the dock, they have been assigned a role.

For about two and a half hours, the ocean is their laboratory. They skim the surface for microplastics. They drop cameras into the kelp canopy. They record water readings at multiple stations. Then on the way back to dock, we sit together on the boat and talk about the most surprising thing they discovered that day. That conversation — out on the water, salt in the air — is where the real learning happens.

Back on shore, we go through the footage from the Nikon Z9. Each student picks one clip that represents what they saw — the health or the struggle of the ocean that day. Then they finalize their data logs, upload everything, and receive a Citizen Scientist certificate with their name and the exact coordinates of the mission they completed.

That certificate is not a participation trophy. It represents real work, real data, and a real contribution to ocean science.

Southern California's kelp forests are in trouble. Water temperatures are rising. Urchin populations are exploding and overgrazing what remains. The data we need to understand these changes — and fight them — requires consistent, long-term monitoring across wide areas.

Citizen scientists can provide that. Every water reading our students submit adds to a growing picture of coastal health over time. When that data flows into platforms like Clean Swell and is cross-referenced with professional research, it becomes part of something much larger than any single expedition.

It becomes evidence. And evidence is what drives change.

We are actively expanding our citizen science program. Whether you are a student, an educator, a parent, or just someone who loves the ocean and wants to do more than watch it disappear — there is a role for you here.

You do not need a science degree. You do not need dive certification. You just need to show up with curiosity and a willingness to learn. We will teach you the rest — on the water, where it counts.

The ocean needs more eyes on it. Come be one of them.