ELI student, Cassie Ryan, created a tidepooling field guide to inspire conservation of marine biodiversity. Using the guide, she has been leading educational tidepooling trips in Santa Barbara.
Her passion for marine conservation stems from her research in the small fishing village of Cuajiniquil, Costa Rica, where she worked closely alongside people whose lives are intertwined with the sea. She learned about threats to the ocean, such as overfishing, pollution, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and biodiversity loss. It was heartbreaking for her to witness how small coastal communities were disproportionately affected by marine degradation. Their stories and struggles deeply affected her, motivating her to turn her concern into action. She chose to channel this knowledge into a meaningful, community-centered project that connects others to the ocean’s beauty and importance.
For her ELI project, she created a waterproof tidepooling field guide, available both online and in print, designed to connect students and local community members with the rich marine biodiversity along the Santa Barbara coastline. She has been leading community tidepooling trips using the guide as an educational tool, and she partnered with on-campus organizations such as the Environmental Affairs Board and the Office of the President. Her goal is to cultivate a sense of stewardship for the ocean by highlighting the fascinating organisms that inhabit the local intertidal zones and demonstrating how their health is crucial to the well-being of marine ecosystems. When people can see, identify, and appreciate what lives in their own backyard, they more likely to care about protecting it.
The tidepool guide will now be available at the Santa Barbara Visitors Center and used by the Hollister Ranch Tide Pool School. Through this project, she hopes to create a lasting educational program that encourages curiosity, environmental literacy, and long-term conservation engagement among the Santa Barbara community.