Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Emma is a 17-year-old ocean and climate activist from Vancouver, Canada. Frequent trips to the beach and aquarium as a child sparked Emma’s passion for the ocean.

In 2017, she started volunteering at the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre helping to rescue, rehabilitate, and release sick and injured marine mammals. Upon seeing the impact humans have on the ocean, Emma’s passion for ocean advocacy only grew.

In 2020, she joined Ocean Wise Youth to Sea where she developed numerous community conservation projects, including workshops about orcas for elementary students and ORCA Festival, a community-centred climate fair and pop-up market that featured booths run by local, sustainable businesses and environmental organizations to promote ocean conservation and climate action in her community.

She was also selected as one of nine high school students to be a member of NOAA’s Coastal Ecosystems Learning Center (CELC) Youth Planning team where she helped plan the inaugural CELC Youth Summit that brought high school students together for a weekend of keynote speakers and workshops to promote ocean stewardship amongst youth. After the summit, she co-founded Protecting Canada’s Coasts, a campaign to promote the establishment and reform of marine protected areas in Canada.