Q & A - Neus Figueras
What inspired you to pursue marine science?
I have always loved the sea. I’m drawn to it and it recharges me. Ever since I went to school I’ve liked science. I am a curious person and science is about pursuing that curiosity.
While in high school it was quite easy for me to choose science over the humanities―I thought I could always write and train as a writer in my spare time―it was impossible to choose just one scientific discipline when time came to go to university. Then I discovered that oceanography covered all the scientific disciplines that applied to the oceans, and it was clear to me that this would be my career.
It seems you have travelled to many parts of the globe for field work, how has the natural environment at these locations contrasted?
It’s like watching a performance played by different actors in every part of the globe. Are the primary producers here played by coral reefs, plankton or algae?
Who are the herbivores this time?
And the carnivores?
Cleaners, recyclers . . . All of them together will set up a different scenario too, with the unique props found at each site. That diversity is simply fascinating.
The only boring and bad actor in this play is the human pressure, which has not only forced its appearance in all the performances in the world, but is slowly driving everyone else off the stage.
How, through creative writing, do you communicate marine science to younger generations?
I combine my scientific knowledge and creative writing skills to write a story. Stories have been told since centuries to create emotional connections and explain facts about nature and society. So I rely on this ancient legacy that makes us love stories and remember them.
The stark difference between communicating information and telling a story is that stories are dynamic, while facts are static. When we read a story, we are riveted when the characters face risks and elated when they overcome them.
If you present logical thoughts to your audience, they may agree with you but still not respond to the call because people rarely act by reason alone. You have to tap deeper; you need to bind information to something that resonates with them.
Therefore, I use creative writing to link the idea I want to communicate with emotions. If you have a vivid vision of what you want to tell, come up with an imaginative plot and put it all together into a well-crafted story, then you may not only communicate but also inspire.
Please tell us about your latest publication, Lorac, and briefly the journey the main character goes through in the story.
The aim of this book is to wrap one of the most important scientific messages of our time into a single compelling story for teenagers and adults. Lorac is a boy who leads a nomadic life by the sea with his family of Mokens, an indigenous community from Myanmar.
His destiny, however, is even more tied to the sea than living on a boat, and a series of unfortunate events plunge him into the heart of the sea, where he discovers a world that remains invisible to many―beautiful, ingenious, vitally connected to life on Earth and with a terrible threat ahead.
When this threat takes over the marine world, Lorac has to return to the place he once knew and now no longer knows, in a daring attempt to save the ocean and the planet.
Though he endures many hardships, he also has fun and meets lovable friends on his journey of hope and courage that invites the reader to connect with community and nature.