This project is an online ocean literacy course for teachers. 80 Brazilian public elementary school teachers received 2 months of training in ocean literacy, scientific experiments, and new pedagogical tools that they then implement in their respective classrooms. Each teacher is able to educate and impact about 30 students.

Led by organizational founder Steph Fine Sasse (33), The Plenary inspires students to become scientists through their “I am a Scientist” program, which highlights the life of an ocean-focused scientist by developing curricula and classroom materials that are disseminated within their network of 250 educators and 25,000 middle and high school students.

Refill Store is a well-known zero-waste shop with the goal of providing an alternative shopping experience as a solution to reduce the use of single-use plastics which make up the majority of marine debris. Refill Store has been open in their pilot location in Kepulauan Seribu since February 2020, and have worked in partnership with SOA Partners Divers Clean Action. Products sold in the Refill Store include basic household items, such as body soap, shampoo, detergent, dish soap, and floor cleaning liquid. Funding for this project will go towards marketing and an educational program and reusable kit give-away at the local elementary school in Kepulauan Seribu

This grant supports Project QR restore in seeking formal registration of their nonprofit, and in taking the first steps to restore the coral reefs off the coast of Quintana Roo by implementing a PADI Coral Reef conservation training course for local Mayan conservationists they've partnered with, as well as SOA Mexico hub leaders.

Ichthion is a UK company, with operations in South America that develops and implements award-winning technologies and solutions to decrease plastic pollution in our ocean. The company also designs and executes circular economy programmes for its customers based on data. So far, Ichthion has received around USD 2.2 million in its seed investment round, multiple international grants, and contracts for its R&D development and operations. The start-up is currently raising Series A.

This project works with local youth in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - to teach them to be guardians of their ecosytem. In July 2020, with the help of 25 youth volunteers, they deployed 21 artificial reef units off the coast of Fisherman Island, Port Moresby. These volunteers will continue to monitor the growth, species abundance, diversity, and overall biomass on each reef. All survey methods will involve the collection of both still photos and video for post-field analysis and use for informational, outreach, and promotional materials.

Soonlution is a startup founded by a group of Hong Kong University students working to modernize the way shellfish are farmed by creating a prototype that allows for more sophisticated buoyancy controls, increasing the platform’s resilience and adaptability to typhoons, which are increasing in frequency and strength due to climate change. The support of an SOA microgrant has allowed them to test and refine three different prototypes as part of their proof of concept.

The Local Catch Network (LCN) Find your Seafood tool connects consumers with fishers in their local community. This grant funds the media activities around Find Your Seafood Week on August 22-28 as well as the capacity building training provided to local fishers and members of the LCN so that they can learn how to replicate these and other social media campaigns to grow their businesses.

SOA Moquegua will conduct an analysis of the water quality in the Peruvian port city of Ilo, an area with a history of heavy metal waste discharge perpetrated by ENGIE and Southern Copper Corporation.