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When I first decided to pursue science as a career, I was driven by the idea of “helping” the world, contributing to the state of things. I can’t help but think of the Lloyd Dobler quote from the 80′s movie “Say Anything” when John Cusack’s character says in response to the dreaded question for any recent graduate, “What’s your plan?”

“I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.”

I can totally relate to Lloyd, and I expect many scientists can too, at least at the beginning of graduate school.

We’re here because we love figuring things out, finding out why this does that and how to make that better than it is today. This is our ultimate job, at least it is to me. The Waterlust Project is an experiment in trying to bridge the gap between the microcosm of scientific culture and the big blue world filled with people that love being here as much as we do.

One of my many frustrations with scientific work is its rigidity. The scientific method, the practices we must follow to ensure our work is sound. Don’t get me wrong, we need it, but sometimes it feels like always having to keep the crayon within the lines. Every now and again, I need to get straight up crazy with my crayons. It keeps me sane.

What I’m getting at is creativity and self-expression. How can we express ourselves through our work without loss of scientific quality. How can we combine our personality, individuality, quirks and style with the deep knowledge base of our research in such a way that engages a broad audience? For me, the answer is film!

We (as in everybody who is reading this) are lucky enough to live in a time that allows an individual to make a global impact. Imagine discussing with your grandparents the idea of having a video, picture, or written article that is seen by millions of people all over the world. They’d probably look at you like you were crazy. But that is our reality, the internet has empowered the individual in unprecedented ways.

So where am I going with this? Take it all the way back to Lloyd Dobler. What’s your plan? I challenge you, members of the scientific community, to take your work and transmit it to the world. Take your research, take what you’ve learned, and share it. Pour yourself into your work, not in the “I sat in the lab counting Otoliths for 14 straight hours” kinda way (just kidding advisers….sort of), but in the “I’m going to tell a story about why I love the oceans, or the fish, or for you weird MBF students, the Otoliths.”

Tell your story, make it personal, make it beautiful, and share it with the world and it will help inspire others and remind us all about why we work so hard to do what we do.

We’re inviting everybody at RSMAS to be part of the Waterlust project. Students, alumni, faculty, staff, anybody and everybody. Check out the website, and shoot us an email with any questions.

Patrick Rynne – Applied Marine Physics
www.waterlust.org
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