Pair with deep understanding

THE first Tasmanian to win the ROLEX Our WorldUnderwater Scholarship has returned from New York, where she completed her year of ocean research and adventure.

The scholarship awards three ocean enthusiasts from around the world each year with $30,000 to fund them on their way to various regions around the world, encouraging young people to explore the seas.

And Olivia Johnson paved the way for others, with IMAS student Joanna Smart to this year follow in her footsteps.

During her year, Ms Johnson worked with the largest animal in the ocean, the blue whale, to their food source, krill.

She went on a diving safari through the Polynesian islands between Fiji and Tahiti, explored krill ecosystems off the coast of the United States, studied manta rays and visited Antarctica. “I grew up next to the ocean, my dad was a commercial diver and once I got to high school and realised I could do it as a career I thought that was just awesome,” she said.

“There’s something new you discover every time you dive.”

Joanna Smart is finishing her honours thesis at IMAS before she sets off on her first adventure in Fiji, and hopes to spend the year finding solutions to problems facing the ocean and help communities in developing countries take control of their coastal environment.

“Every second breath we take comes from the oxygen produced by the ocean, so I think it’s much more integral in our lives than people realise,” Ms Smart said.

The two last week returned from New York where Ms Johnson presented her year to the OWUSS board as well as hosts and sponsors, and where Ms Smart was welcomed on board.