By Rhian Wallace, AI Ambassador in Residence, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster
When I was sorting through the available co-op positions for my university degree, I was met with a sea of finance and programming opportunities; none of which really appealed to me. So, when I saw the posting from Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC), it felt like finding a needle in a haystack. I didn’t know if there would be an option where I could align my interests in environmental stewardship, data analysis, and communication, but there it was. Despite my area of study being statistics and environmental studies, the possibility of working in the blue economy was not even on my radar. In fact, I didn’t even know the term ‘blue economy’ existed until my first day with the OSC.
I hit the ground running when I was pulled into an in-person event on that first day – the OSC’s Ambition 2035 Conference in Victoria. As I sat and listened to the discussions taking place, they began turning to the topic of talent in the ocean sector. People around the room were saying “hey, there’s jobs here, but students don’t think of us.” Unbeknownst to them, they were talking about me. That is, people like me – students that don’t think of the ocean sector when considering career paths. Knowing what I know now about the ocean economy, combined with my personal experience engaging in professional pursuits as a student, I’d have to agree. Canada is the most coastal country in the world, boasting the fourth largest ocean territory and coastline on three of its four borders, and yet there I was thinking that ocean careers were reserved for those in marine studies.
Since that time, I’ve had an incredibly eye-opening experience working at the OSC. I’ve had the opportunity to learn about the work of Canadian ocean innovators and reflect on the systems that are built to support them. My role as the OSC AI Ambassador has given me a unique perspective into the potential of AI for the ocean sector and igniting those interests across multiple domains.
Professionally, I’ve not only seen the high number of possibilities for ocean careers, but also the diversity of skills needed to grow a sustainable ocean economy. In the last month alone, I’ve recommended looking into work in the ocean sector to three of my job seeking friends, all who are considering vastly different career paths (software development, administration, and project management).
Even though I’ve lived almost all my life in coastal cities, I never imagined I had the right skill set to bring to the ocean industry. Now that I’ve experienced it, I’ve seen many of the skillsets that are needed and the plethora of jobs available. My time as a co-op student with OSC has shown me that working in the ocean industry doesn’t have to mean being a marine biologist or a fisher, but it can mean supporting a positive impact on human-nature interactions, and on fostering systems of stewardship and sustainability, using the skills and interests I do have.