Author Archives: Anya Hanson

COVID-19 Effects on the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society®

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Due to the unprecedented circumstances of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society will defer the 2020 Rolex Scholarships and the 2020 Internships until Summer 2021. Additionally, the Society’s annual Symposium and Rolex Awards Ceremony, scheduled for June 6, 2020, in New York City, will be moving to an online, virtual event.

The decision to postpone was not easy, especially having just recently selected three new Rolex Scholars and five new Interns. However, the Board of Directors of the Society recognizes the seriousness and continually evolving nature of the pandemic; therefore, the Board decided it would be irresponsible and potentially unsafe to send Scholars and Interns out into the world at this time. All have agreed to defer appointment until 2021, and a formal announcement of the 2020 Scholars and Interns will be released soon.

Each year, the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society hosts an annual weekend to honor and celebrate the Society’s returning Scholars and Interns, as well as to appoint new Scholars and Interns for the upcoming year. This year, the annual weekend was moved to June to coincide with World Oceans Week.

Given the current travel and stay-at-home restrictions, as well as social distancing guidelines, the Society must cancel this year’s in-person events. In its place, we will hold an online, virtual event, or possibly multiple events. Exact details are still in development, but we still hope to have presentations from the returning Scholars and Interns as well as the world premieres of the films from the 2019 Rolex Scholars.

It is always a great pleasure to bring the Society ‘family’ together each year in New York to renew friendships, celebrate our Interns and Rolex Scholars, and acknowledge the efforts of our volunteers. We, as a Board, are disappointed that we cannot meet in-person this year. However, though we may not be able to gather together, we can assemble apart and present an opportunity to allow people to join in from around the world.

It is more important than ever that we celebrate success while we recognize the challenging times we are all facing.

I look forward to celebrating with you all soon.

Steve Barnett
President
1990 Rolex Scholar

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PRESENTATION BY DR. JOE MACINNIS AT THE 0WUSS 42ND ANNUAL AWARDS PROGRAM

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Anyone Can Change Everything
Dr. Joe MacInnis
Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society®
42nd Annual Awards Program
New York Yacht Club
April 16, 2016

 

IT’S AN HONOUR to be in your company. Each one of you from Rolex Scholar to intern, from
supporter to sponsor, confirm what can be done when good people do small things with great love.

A month ago, Jim Corry and Lionel Schürch of Rolex SA in Geneva asked me to talk to you for ten minutes about climate change. My heart sank. How do you describe the planet’s most pressing environmental problem—a biological crime scene—and our response to it—in 600 seconds? Faced with the possibility of certain defeat on this stage, I did what any ancient diver would do. I sat down and opened a bottle of black rum.

As the days passed and my anxiety increased, I kept thinking of the words from the Rolex Spirit of Enterprise mission statement: “Anyone can change everything.” An electric call to action. “Anyone can change everything.” But, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to use the words in my speech.

Two weeks ago, I’m in a service station filling my Toyota Prius. I put my credit card into the slot and look at all the cars and trucks. Black Cadillac. Ford Fusion. Big Hummer. An 18-wheeler sucking up diesel fuel. This is a front-line of climate change. This is where energy-intense carbon molecules really hit the road.

I ease the nozzle into my gas tank. During my lifetime, I’ve done this more than a thousand times. When you factor in all the ships, trains, and planes I’ve taken, I’m a poster boy for global warming. On the plus side, I’m a nation builder. My fossil fuel payments support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

As the gas runs into the tank, my mind drifts to New York, this stage, and the speech I can’t write. I think of rising sea levels in Manhattan. There will be water taxis on Wall Street. Wind surfing on Park Avenue. At the New York City Yacht Club, you’ll go to the front door, walk out on a pier, and hail a yellow gondola.

I look at the cash window on the gas pump: $10 . . . $12 . . . $15. I’m more than a poster boy for climate change, I’m a carbon addict. Every day, in one form or another, I mainline diesel fuel, jet fuel, natural gas, and plastics. For years, I thought ExxonMobil and Volkswagen were ethical companies. I know I need help.

I pick up my receipt, slide behind the wheel, and drive off. The good news is that I’m in rehab. I have weekly sessions with my fellow addicts. We tell stories of binging on tail-pipe emissions at the Indy 500. People we know buying mega-stretch Hummers with a helicopter pad. But we exchange encouraging information. How 150 nations came together in Paris to sign a climate change agreement. How cities from New York to San Francisco to Toronto are shifting to green energy. How inspiring institutions and individuals including World Wild Life, Greenpeace, Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein, and Justin Gillis are showing us what we can do.

My rehab assignment this week is to produce a short guide about climate change, and how we can adapt to it. With Rolex’s assistance, we have printed copies for each of you. Please read it. Absorb it. Pass it along. Take action. And remember . . . When it comes to minimizing the effects of climate change…with leadership and passion, “anyone can change everything.” Thank you, Jim and Lionel. It’s been a pleasure speaking to you. Justin Gillis Article

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PRESENTATION BY DR. JOE MACINNIS AT THE 0WUSS 42ND ANNUAL AWARDS PROGRAM

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Anyone Can Change Everything

Dr. Joe MacInnis
Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society®
42nd Annual Awards Program
New York Yacht Club
April 16, 2016

IT’S AN HONOUR to be in your company. Each one of you from Rolex Scholar to intern, from supporter to sponsor, confirm what can be done when good people do small things with great love.

A month ago, Jim Corry and Lionel Schürch of Rolex SA in Geneva asked me to talk to you for ten minutes about climate change. My heart sank. How do you describe the planet’s most pressing environmental problem—a biological crime scene—and our response to it—in 600 seconds? Faced with the possibility of certain defeat on this stage, I did what any ancient diver would do. I sat down and opened a bottle of black rum.

As the days passed and my anxiety increased, I kept thinking of the words from the Rolex Spirit of Enterprise mission statement: “Anyone can change everything.” An electric call to action. “Anyone can change everything.” But, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to use the words in my speech.

Two weeks ago, I’m in a service station filling my Toyota Prius. I put my credit card into the slot and look at all the cars and trucks. Black Cadillac. Ford Fusion. Big Hummer. An 18-wheeler sucking up diesel fuel. This is a front-line of climate change. This is where energy-intense carbon molecules really hit the road.

I ease the nozzle into my gas tank. During my lifetime, I’ve done this more than a thousand times. When you factor in all the ships, trains, and planes I’ve taken, I’m a poster boy for global warming. On the plus side, I’m a nation builder. My fossil fuel payments support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

As the gas runs into the tank, my mind drifts to New York, this stage, and the speech I can’t write. I think of rising sea levels in Manhattan. There will be water taxis on Wall Street. Wind surfing on Park Avenue. At the New York City Yacht Club, you’ll go to the front door, walk out on a pier, and hail a yellow gondola.

I look at the cash window on the gas pump: $10 . . . $12 . . . $15. I’m more than a poster boy for climate change, I’m a carbon addict. Every day, in one form or another, I mainline diesel fuel, jet fuel, natural gas, and plastics. For years, I thought ExxonMobil and Volkswagen were ethical companies. I know I need help.

I pick up my receipt, slide behind the wheel, and drive off. The good news is that I’m in rehab. I have weekly sessions with my fellow addicts. We tell stories of binging on tail-pipe emissions at the Indy 500. People we know buying mega-stretch Hummers with a helicopter pad. But we exchange encouraging information. How 150 nations came together in Paris to sign a climate change agreement. How cities from New York to San Francisco to Toronto are shifting to green energy. How inspiring institutions and individuals including World Wild Life, Greenpeace, Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein, and Justin Gillis are showing us what we can do.

My rehab assignment this week is to produce a short guide about climate change, and how we can adapt to it. With Rolex’s assistance, we have printed copies for each of you. Please read it. Absorb it. Pass it along. Take action. And remember . . . When it comes to minimizing the effects of climate change…with leadership and passion, “anyone can change everything.” Thank you, Jim and Lionel. It’s been a pleasure speaking to you.

Justin Gillis Article

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2016 North American summer internships Announcement

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Founded in 1975, OWUSS has sponsored 94 experience-based Rolex scholarships and 93 internships to young people who want to pursue careers in fields such as marine biology, underwater research, and conservation. The society offers summer internships in North America for 1-3 month periods to college undergraduates and recent graduates. Internship recipients receive an educational grant to help fund travel to/from internship site, room and board, and a stipend to cover living expenses. The sponsor organizations that host the internships are leaders in their fields.

George Wozencraft, Vice President Internships, says “This year’s selection process was competitive, with many qualified applicants. In addition to those selected for the 2016 internships, I want to commend the finalists for each internship. We thank the members of our internship selection committee for their contribution. Additionally, we appreciate our internship sponsors and coordinators for the tremendous support that they provide to our volunteer organization.”

Here are the 2016 internships and recipients:


Dr. Lee H. Somers American Academy of Underwater Science (AAUS) Scientific Research Diving Internship

Allie D. Sifrit, University of Hawaii at Manoa

This internship provides experience for a young person interested in a future in science, diving for research, or scientific diving-related fields. Intern applicants can be students from colleges and universities with an interest in science and diving. The program runs from mid-May through August and will include training at one of several AAUS organizational member sites. This training will give the intern the necessary dive qualifications to allow participation on research projects requiring scientific diving and introduce the intern to careers that utilize scientific diving as a tool. Once trained as an AAUS recognized diver-in-training, interns will participate in underwater fieldwork at one or more locations and research facilities associated with AAUS.

This internship is named in memory of Dr. Lee H. Somers, who was AAUS’ first President and served as a long time officer and board member of OWUSS.


Bonnier Dive Group Publishing Internship

Melissa J. Smith, University of Florida

Based in Winter Park, Florida, the recipient of this internship will gain valuable real world experience in magazine publishing. Bonnier Corporation is one of the largest consumer- publishing groups in America, with nearly 50 special-interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events. The Bonnier Dive Group includes “Sport Diver,” “Scuba Diving,” and “Undersea Journal.” The intern will have the opportunity to contribute to these and other Bonnier Corporation publications.


National Park Service Research Internship

Garrett J. Fundakowski, Shippensburg University

The National Park Service Research Internship provides a unique opportunity to work with leading archaeologists, underwater photographers, and scientists in the National Park Service and other agencies in the American state and federal government. Specific work projects will be determined based upon the interests of the intern as well as the needs of associated projects. The internship is based in Boulder, Colorado, but it is expected that the intern will travel to projects within the continental United States and potentially overseas as part of this internship. Experiences could involve a specific project in a single park or a larger project in multiple parks.


The Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) Marine Conservation Internship

Patrick M. Peck, University of Richmond

Offered in Key Largo, Florida, the Marine Conservation Internship provides an opportunity to experience working at a nonprofit environmental organization. REEF is a grassroots, non-profit organization of recreational divers dedicated to protecting and preserving the underwater environment. Outside duties include environmental presentations to local and visiting schools, university, dive, and public groups; working with other local marine conservation entities; and opportunities for conducting marine life surveys during local dives. Office duties include handling memberships, incoming marine life survey data, answering e-mail, and dealing with the public.

For more information about the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society, please visit our website: http://www.owuscholarship.org.

For the official press release: 2016_OWUSS_Internship_Press_Release_March_2016.

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Presentation by Dr. Joe MacInnis at the OWUSS 41st Awards Program

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“Too Much of a Good Thing…Is Wonderful” by Dr. Joe MacInnis at the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society® 41st Annual Awards Program on April 18, 2015

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Three years ago I was the expedition journalist and safety physician on the James Cameron- National Geographic Deepsea Challenge project. Sponsored by National Geographic and Rolex, our objective was to dive Jim’s radical new research sub deeper and deeper until we had the team and technical confidence to make a seven-mile, science dive into the Marianna Trench.

It was the toughest project of my entire professional career. We had a new and untested sub. We had a new and untested team. The western Pacific is a place of hurricane winds and ship- breaking waves. We had injuries from heaving decks, slippery stairwells, and cables under tension. After our second test dive, two of our teammates were killed in a helicopter crash.

But after sixty days at sea, sixty days of overcoming technical failures and setbacks, Jim climbed into his new sub and made the first solo science dive into the deepest, darkest place on the planet. He spent three hours on the seafloor. He travelled two miles across a flat, featureless plain gathering scientific samples, making observations, and taking majestic 3D images.

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We succeeded because Jim Cameron and his team had exceptional personal and professional leadership. Our leadership principles included deep empathy, eloquence, and endurance. A deep empathy for the team, the task, the technology, and the ocean. A profound eloquence in our words and actions. A deep endurance in our response to setbacks and failures.

Forty-three years ago, on a ship under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the concept for our Rolex scholarship was born. We had a new and untested idea. We had a new and untested team. As time passed, especially during the early years, we overcame setbacks and failures. Today, we have 89 interns and 91 scholars. And a splendid team of volunteers, supporters, partners, and sponsors.

We’re successful because our chairman, president and team have strong personal and professional leadership. Our leadership principles include empathy, eloquence, and endurance.
A deep empathy among our scholars, interns, and partners and what they learn from each other.
A profound eloquence in the words and images we use to tell our stories.

A sustained endurance in overcoming our setbacks and challenges.

Thank you Jim, Stewart, Mike, and everyone in this room. Scholars and interns. Officers and directors. Partners and corporate sponsors. You confirm what can be done when good people are generous with their time, talent, and tenacity. You have made it possible for young men and women to explore the rainbow edge of knowledge and imagination—and share the joy of their discoveries.

As you prepare for the coming decades, remember the immortal words of the great scholarship society philosopher Jim Corry who—paraphrasing his occasional muse Mae West—said:
“Too much of a good thing . . is wonderful.”

 

For the pdf and full article: ROLEX SPEECH 2015

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