Interview with Erica Moulton

Hey! Tell us a bit about yourself. 

Mom, educator, runner, robot maker, wife, traveller, explorer, ocean enthusiast, scientist.  I’m not all of these things everyday and some days I might only be one of them, but I think it’s a good bit of who I am right now. I love that I can wear multiple hats at any given time and really in science there is so much opportunity for overlap on a daily basis, it’s not always easy, but it is possible. 

What makes you passionate about the ocean and environment?

I’ve felt this connection to the environment and to water since I was a child. I have very fond memories of building floating contraptions so that my sister and I could traverse the mangrove canals near our home. We caught lizards and snakes, observed birds and turtles and I toted around an Audubon bird ID book in the way that many kids tote around a favorite stuffed animal or other prized possession. I’ve never lost that feeling of wanting to know what, and why, and how. I take notes, carry a journal and look things up all the time.  

What is your current job role and what responsibilities do you have?

My current role is STEM Director for St Petersburg College (SPC). I mentor, tutor and advise students. I help with student recruitment into our programs as well as into internships and jobs, and I work to coordinate outreach with highschool students and faculty to engage them in all aspects of STEM. 

I also work on grants and community partnerships to enhance the opportunities for our faculty and students using the STEM Center.  It’s a perfect fit for me and a great opportunity to connect a lot of my professional experiences with students entering the STEM fields. 

Tell me a little bit about C4oE, and how you’re using citizen science to help the oceans. 

Center for Open Exploration (C4OE) is a small non-profit and we work on local and regional projects where funding can be used solely for project outcomes and is not needed for general overhead. 

Recent examples include partnering with NAUI ‘Green Diver Initiative’, to assess the beads remaining in the water after the annual Gasparilla parades in the Tampa Bay area. Grant funding has allowed us to work with and train local divers to help with underwater clean ups and assessment. The beads that have been collected are being used by Stella's EcoStars to create marine art from marine debris.

We are now looking into ways to support public education and awareness, as the beads sink very quickly and become an ‘out of sight out of mind issue’. But they are a serious marine debris problem, which needs attention.  

Other projects involve partnering with the Ocean Media Institute (OMI) to support their ‘Brews for Blue’ film series where ocean films are shown in a relaxed setting at local breweries. Our next project will help promote public estuary education with a hack-a-thon. 

Tell me about your work designing and constructing ROV kits. 

I absolutely love ROVs!  If you can’t have your own eyeballs under the ocean surface, it really is the next best thing.  It will never replace putting your own noggin under the surface, which really may not be feasible for everyone, but its close!

I’ve been able to work with a number of organizations doing ROV kits and programs and I have been involved in the field since about 2002. My favorite ROV activity is the simple coat hanger ROV. It was created by Harry Bohm, one of the authors of How to Build Your Own Underwater Robot & Other Wet Projects. I’ve tweaked it a bit over the years, but in my experience it is the perfect introduction to understanding the science of ocean exploration and robotics. Its useable with nearly every audience I have worked with from 6 and 7 year olds to even seasoned researchers and best of all it can be created in as little as 10 minutes. 

My work really is focused on whatever I can contribute to the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) kits used in student competitions and simple ocean exploration. I still sell my own kits and love to teach people how to work in the underwater world. Not many things beat the feeling I get when I watch someone’s face light up after I help them turn a plastic coat hanger into an underwater robot!

I have also just joined Team Sedna, and will be teaching Inuit students in the Arctic how to use ROVs in the Arctic. Find out more here.

Whose work has influenced and inspired you?

I’m inspired by so many people, but every single day my own two children inspire me to do better, to be better and to contribute.  

I absolutely admire Dr. Edie Widder. Her contributions to ocean science and to supporting women in science is just a stunning example! Liz Taylor of DOER Marine is another. Her work to advance ocean exploration is admirable and she is a never ending advocate for ocean conservation.  

Influence? I think a lot of it comes from what I had access to in terms of books, television and education. So the names that immediately come to mind are Darwin, Cousteau and Beebe. That commonality of explorer, documentarian and no fear of the unknown, I find that likely had an influence. The great part of being so connected now is that I find other people all over the world who have an influence on my choices. Every day I learn new ways to share, to explore and to contribute. 

Which ocean species is on your bucket list to see?

In their natural habitat and I’m having a right place, right time, moment; the narwhal, walrus, Mola, oarfish and a blue whale. Ok, well clearly not all of them in same place... For the record though, I’d swim a mile to see any bioluminescent critter.  I find them completely fascinating. Even if I have seen them before, I want to see them again.  

The ocean has changed rapidly in the last couple of decades. Could you leave us with any words of wisdom about ocean conservation?

Do something, even if it is just one small thing every day, do it.  Collectively we are all responsible and it is overwhelming to think about, but we can make a difference.  Make today the day you bring your own cup or bag. Go a week with no straw. Change your razor or toothbrush to a non-plastic handle.  

What advice would you give to people who want to go into this career?

It has been a few years, but I think the advice I was given still has merit today. Consider a more broad undergraduate degree, not a specialized one.  Save that for graduate school.  Compliment the undergraduate degree with internships and work that reflects your area of interest. Much of science is externally funded and sometimes that funding has odd parameters. It might require that a member of staff earns a certificate to operate a forklift. Never in a million years would I connect the two, but it happens. So say yes more than no.

If you want to find out more about the great work that Erica does and the organisations she is involved with, follow her here: @pvcrov / @ROV_Erica

Into the Industry explores the lives and vocations of professionals, academics and those working in the marine biology world

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