{"id":44024,"date":"2021-11-09T05:13:06","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T20:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/marine-conservationist-aims-to-raise-awareness-through-technology\/"},"modified":"2021-11-11T03:34:30","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T18:34:30","slug":"marine-conservationist-aims-to-raise-awareness-through-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/marine-conservationist-aims-to-raise-awareness-through-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine conservationist aims to raise awareness through technology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Marine conservationist aims to raise awareness through technology<\/p>\n<p>As a child growing up in Arizona, Carissa Cabrera loved being outside. She\u2019d go to parks with her sister and other neighborhood kids until the streetlights turned on. As she got older, she\u2019d take swimming lessons and go to California beaches with her family \u2013 her first exposure to the ocean, which would become the focus of her life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that&#8217;s where the fascination started,\u201d says Cabrera, 27, a marine conservation biologist now based in Hawaii.<\/p>\n<p>But as a teen, it was an award-winning documentary that she watched for an AP English assignment that set her on her current path.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know a lot of people get to marine biology without that distinct aha moment, but that was mine,\u201d says Cabrera, who had focused on photography as a career possibility before watching the film. \u201cIt speaks to the power of films, and how much they can influence viewers\u2019 mindsets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Technology for a better tomorrow\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kNGZhe2NMQ0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Though she had a scholarship to an in-state university, she worked as a waitress in college to pay her rent. Through her studies, she learned about the threats to the ocean, such as overfishing and oil spills, which really put her on track for conservation.<\/p>\n<p>But since she didn\u2019t have the advantages of other marine biology students who attended coastal schools, she found opportunities outside of the classroom: working at a planetarium\u2019s marine discovery lab, an internship at a zoo, joining her campus\u2019 Marine Awareness and Conservation Society and trips to Mexico to do fieldwork in the ocean. She also saved up to study abroad and went to the Galapagos Islands. Her undergraduate degree was in evolutionary and ecological biology from the University of Arizona.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.windows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/prod\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/R7A7184-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-176497\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.windows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/prod\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/R7A7184-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Woman on beach working on Lenovo laptop, as seen from behind\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>She also spent about eight years engaging young students through conservation education outreach.<\/p>\n<p>All these experiences led her to Hawaii in 2016, where she received a master\u2019s degree in marine science. In 2020, in a full-circle moment of applying what she had first glimpsed with that life-changing documentary in high school, she founded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theconservationistcollective.com\/\">The Conservationist Collective<\/a>, a communications platform that empowers people everywhere to gain and share information about the challenges oceans face. She realized how many more people she could reach this way than through hands-on visits (which she still does).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my adulthood for sure, technology has been and is critical,\u201d says Cabrera, who works with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lenovo.com\/us\/en\/p\/laptops\/ideapad\/ideapad-700-series\/ideapad-slim-7-pro-14ihu5\/88ips701671\"><strong>Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro<\/strong><\/a> (aka <strong>Yoga Slim 7i Pro<\/strong> in other markets) running <a href=\"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/windows11-general-availability\/\">Windows 11<\/a>. Her favorite part of the new interface is being able to snap multiple windows on the screen at once so she can multitask and increase her overall productivity. \u201cIt\u2019s given me the opportunity to not just reach 30 students at a time, which is what I would do when I would bring all my outreach materials and go to a classroom, but actually reach whoever wants to know more, wherever they are. I&#8217;m most grateful for having the best tools working for my team \u2013 who are spread out all over the country \u2013 and for my mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For her, it was important to partner with companies that aligned with her stances on sustainability.<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.windows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/prod\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Slim-7i-Pro_14in_Front_Right.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-176496 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.windows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/prod\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Slim-7i-Pro_14in_Front_Right-1024x705.png\" alt=\"Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7iPro open and facing right\" width=\"1024\" height=\"705\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Microsoft\u2019s commitment to be carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030 appealed to her, as does <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lenovo.com\/us\/en\/laptops\">Lenovo<\/a>\u2019s dedication to making their PCs with post-consumer recycled materials and reducing emissions by 50% by 2030.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.windows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/prod\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/R7A7212-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-176499\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.windows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/prod\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/R7A7212-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Gloved hand holding litter left on beach\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Her four-person team believes everyone can be a marine conservationist \u2013 and that you don&#8217;t have to be a scientist to help.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery single person has a role to play when it comes to saving our oceans and you do not have to wait eight years to get your master\u2019s degree to start doing that. And honestly, we don&#8217;t have the time for that,\u201d Cabrera says. \u201cIt&#8217;s an inclusive philosophy when it comes to conservation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She creates environmental content mainly for her website, <a href=\"https:\/\/nam06.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fanchor.fm%2Fcarissa-cabrera&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cv-athcha%40microsoft.com%7C105742f749cc4ec3cf4208d998ceb464%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C637708836625568430%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=fQwQI9y45OC2axGO5Sfbkf2xUUKdVVdaRlxNWp0%2B5nw%3D&amp;reserved=0\">podcast<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/nam06.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40carissaandclimate%3F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cv-athcha%40microsoft.com%7C105742f749cc4ec3cf4208d998ceb464%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C637708836625568430%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=lLxialfRKBSizZUVAgRIwwZO3THGHN9JzkUHk3g5muE%3D&amp;reserved=0\">TikTok<\/a> channel, where she shares tips on everyday ways to practice zero waste, sustainability and recycling. But she also shares snips of her life in Hawaii, her travels and the wildlife she encounters in the water, such as sea turtles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou really want people to feel inspired by the ocean and excited,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then you can start introducing the stuff we really need to take action on. But no one is going to protect anything they don&#8217;t care about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>All photos except for Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro standalone courtesy of Carissa Cabrera.<\/em><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.windows.com\/windowsexperience\/2021\/11\/08\/marine-conservationist-aims-to-raise-awareness-through-technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marine conservationist aims to raise awareness through technology<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Marine conservationist aims to raise awareness through technology As a child growing up in Arizona, Carissa Cabrera loved being outside. She\u2019d go to parks with her sister and other neighborhood kids until the streetlights turned on. As she got older, she\u2019d take swimming lessons and go to California beaches with her family \u2013 her first exposure to the ocean, which would become the focus of her life\u2019s work. \u201cI think that&#8217;s where the fascination started,\u201d says Cabrera, 27, a marine conservation biologist now based in Hawaii. But as a teen, it was an award-winning documentary that she watched for an AP English assignment that set her on her current path. \u201cI know a lot of people get to marine biology without that distinct aha moment, but that was mine,\u201d says Cabrera, who had focused on photography as a career possibility <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/marine-conservationist-aims-to-raise-awareness-through-technology\/\" title=\"Marine conservationist aims to raise awareness through technology\">[ more&#8230; ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[169],"tags":[201],"class_list":["post-44024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-windows"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44025,"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44024\/revisions\/44025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jirak.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}