"Anything is possible when it doesn't matter who gets the credit" is a resonating quote on the infinite possibility and power of collaboration. The quote is attributed to Harry Truman and has also been used by Ronald Reagan (so it is a bipartisan quote!), but I first heard it at a lecture on sharks hosted by Loggerhead Marinelife Center on July 26th. Chris Fischer, Founder and Expedition Leader of OCEARCH, was talking about the early days of gathering data on white sharks and how the system that was in place at the time was based not on trying to globally solve the problem but on individual scientists gathering information so they could write a paper to get more funding for their project. Enter Chris Fischer, not a scientist, but an individual who had a vision and was a collaborator, knowing that in order to solve a global problem you needed to share information globally. Chris' bio calls him an explorer and disruptor, and sometimes you have to shake up the system in order for others to see that there is a different and better way.
I attended this lecture because I am an avid shark lover and had seen OCEARCH in action on TV many years ago and thought it would be interesting to hear about sharks. I left with so much more. The Impact member in me was fascinated with his discussion on collaboration and how now, 20 years later, collaboration is the model in shark research, not the outlier. Why? Because it makes sense to share information, especially when we are in such a crisis regarding our oceans. We are stronger together, just like we are with Impact's collective giving model, where we pool our $1,000 donations to make multiple $100,000 grants to transformational, local nonprofit programs every year. We also view all of our grantee recipients, like Loggerhead Marinelife Center, a merit award recipient in 2021, as ongoing community partners. The relationships that we form with our grantees can broaden our own wealth of knowledge and experience and I, for one, am grateful to Loggerhead for bringing Chris Fischer and his team to the community for this informational and inspiring lecture. Because anything really is possible when it doesn't matter who gets the credit. And everyone should check out Loggerhead's By the Sea Lecture Series.
Hannah Campbell, Vice President, Education Division of Loggerhead Marinelife Center says this about the lecture series "The By the Sea lecture series offers a fun and intimate setting for leaders in ocean science and conservation to connect with our community. Now more than ever people need to not only be aware of the state of our environment, but understand what is being done to address the challenges and how to help join our collective mission." For more information on the lecture series or on Loggerhead Marinelife Center, you can email Gui Proenca at gproenca@marinelife.org or Hannah Campbell at hcampbell@marinelife.org.
By Jennifer LaFrance