In September, the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) partnered with OceansAdvance to provide five students from the Young Women in Oceans (YWIO) program with the opportunity to attend a global ocean technology conference in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Oceans2023 united young professionals from diverse backgrounds with industry thought leaders to learn about cutting-edge technologies that are improving our ability to study and monitor the ocean.
With an interest in developing technologies to help societies live sustainably, Julianne Jager, a mechanical engineering and environmental science student at Dalhousie University, applied to the YWIO program and was selected to attend the conference.
While attending Oceans2023, Julianne explored technologies on display and interacted with academics, students and industry representatives from around the world who are also passionate about solving ocean-related issues.
“I could see the value of the things I’m learning in class today in relation to current ocean technology challenges, and it was fascinating to see how some of these are being solved,” she said.
One of her top takeaways was that the ocean technology industry is expanding rapidly and there is an increasing need for young professionals in the talent pipeline.
“Attending the conference allowed me to gain a more global view of the ocean industry and set my sights on companies that would be interesting to work for during my co-op work terms,” said Julianne.
Young Women in Oceans (YWIO) is a program offered on a year-to-year basis by OceansAdvance, an ocean technology innovation ecosystem based in Newfoundland and Labrador.
