Summary
Social media has revolutionized the way that humans connect with each other, yet we often overlook the power of these tools to connect people to the natural world. I experienced first-hand the capacity of social media to build global support for eco-friendly movements when a video of me removing a plastic drinking straw from a sea turtle's nose went viral in 2015. This video has now been viewed hundreds of millions of times on a variety of social media platforms and is often credited as the inspiration for a new wave of campaigns against single-use plastic. Seeing the extensive impact of this video, I set out on a new path to develop research projects that have the capacity to both answer important ecological questions while simultaneously generating footage to engage global audiences in marine conservation. The projects, many of which have also gone viral, have ranged from temporarily fastening GoPro-style cameras onto the shells for sea turtles to filming the first footage of the legendary giant squid in US waters. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of my career in using viral videos for environmental outreach and share several lessons that I have learned during this journey.
Brief biography
Dr. Nathan Robinson is a Marine Biologist and Science Communicator whose research answers important ecological questions while simultaneously engaging global audiences in marine conservation. During his career, he has been at the center of several viral videos including removing both a plastic straw and a plastic fork out of the nostrils of endangered sea turtles. He also filmed the first footage of a giant squid in US waters. Dr Robinson began his further education at the University of Southampton, where he received a Masters of Marine Biology and was also nominated as the highest achieving student of his graduating class. Next, he moved to Purdue University where we received a Ph.D in Biological Sciences. After completing his formal education, Dr. Robinson accepted a job running the Goldring-Gund Marine Biology Station in Costa Rica before moving to The Bahamas as the Director of the Cape Eleuthera Institute. He is currently a Severo Ochoa post-doctoral fellow at the ICM in the lab of Dr. Jacopo Aguzzi.