SEATTLE — The Seattle Aquarium is helping to educate hundreds of young volunteers about meaningful action for preservation.
Passionate about the marine environment, Samantha Lynn Martinez is excited to share her knowledge with each visitor she encounters at the Seattle Aquarium.
“Whether that’s talking to a guest or possibly just going out there and spreading the word on social media, that is just fulfilling our mission any way I possibly can. And that is something I will not take for granted because it has been such an important part of my life, and I hope I can just inspire a few guests that walk through the doors,” said Martinez.
A dedicated Youth Ocean Advocate, Martinez is completing her third and final summer in the program at the aquarium.
The Youth Ocean Advocate program is geared towards high school students. It has attracted more than 2,100 young people in the Puget Sound region since it began in 1994.
“This is a great time for them, because they are our future leaders, and we want them to be coming out of high school, coming out of our community and having the tools and the experience and knowledge to be our science and conservation leaders,” said Danielle Carter.
Seattle Aquarium Youth Engagement Coordinator Danielle Carter believes this is an incredible opportunity to engage the younger generation.
“They are our future voters, they can make good impacts on the world, and so empowering them with that knowledge early on, hopefully, they will become successful in the future,” said Carter.
Martinez is inspired by her experience at the aquarium. The Ingraham High School grad will be studying Marine Biology at UW in the fall.
“I am excited to see what happens next because I am in the UW program now, and I think this whole journey will take me on a ton of different paths. And the aquarium has opened so many doors for me, and it’s been such an amazing ride,” said Martinez.
The young volunteers also make an impact beyond the aquarium doors, spending time preserving the Puget Sound region.
“They are also going out into our community doing beach cleanup, habitat restoration, and we take them down to Olympia to help us advocate for the environment,” said Carter.
Empowered to preserve our world’s largest ecosystem and marine life, Martinez is now looking forward to continuing the aquarium’s mission to inspire conservation.
“As part of a career path goes, anything that keeps me close to all my passions, whether that’s the water, or nature or the environment, if I can stay close to that and communicate it with the public, or just make people have that closer connection, I’ll be happy,” said Martinez.