OCC Awards Conservation Challenge Grant to Free Range Ocean

OCC Awards Conservation Challenge Grant to Free Range Ocean © Free Range Ocean

The Ocean Cruising Club is pleased to support Free Range Ocean with a Conservation Challenge Grant towards the development of its directory of Ocean Citizen Science Projects.

This grant is the 13th to be made since 2019. A variety of challenging projects have been supported in that time, including unsupported, non-stop, singlehanded circumnavigations and several environmental maritime research projects.

The 2022 UNESCO State of the Ocean report highlighted that 'scientific knowledge illuminates the way to reversing the decline in ocean health, conserving marine life, addressing ocean aspects of climate change and using the ocean sustainably to improve people's lives.' Yet collecting data from our ocean is a vast, difficult and expensive task. One that Free Range Ocean says needs all hands-on deck to achieve.

At its core, citizen science means the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the general public, typically as part of a collaborative project with professional scientists. With an estimated 30 million recreational boats on the water, often in places that researchers only dream of accessing, there is plenty of people power in the boating community that could be leveraged as 'citizen scientists' to collect samples and analyse data that increases knowledge and understanding of our ocean and helps to pinpoint effective solutions for a healthy future. Awareness of the challenges exists, but often boaters just don't know where or how they can contribute as projects can be hard to find.

To help, Free Range Ocean have developed an Ocean Citizen Science Project directory as a freely accessible platform that people can use to explore and discover interesting projects they can contribute their time, knowledge, energy and experience to - be it boat owners sampling seawater for plankton while sailing offshore, or families at the beach surveying for invasive species, inshore fishers reporting on kelp forests or water-tourists sharing whale photos of their sightings on their adventures.

To access the Directory, please visit here.

Users can filter the projects by region, sea, topics of interest, species of interest, experience levels, times of year, participant locations (onshore, inshore, offshore, remote), and family friendly, so they can find the best project for them and participate in active citizen science projects where ever they are.

Free Range Ocean is a UK registered non-profit organisation, founded in 2023 by ocean advocates OCC Member Duncan Copeland and Associate Member Larissa Clark. They run the project from their 50' sailing vessel FREERANGER, which is currently in Mexico, six months into a multi-year world voyage which will next see them and their children Eden (8) and Skye-Elizabeth (6) depart into the Pacific for Polynesia in March 2025. Beyond contributing to almost a dozen citizen science projects themselves, FREERANGER is also used as a testbed and showcase for innovative and accessible research-based or green-operational technologies, and as a platform for local early-career researchers and storytellers in the countries they visit.

Free Range Ocean is an endorsed activity of the United Nations Ocean Decade of Science in 2025 and FREERANGER is an eco champion in the hall of fame for the scientist-led Discovery Yacht Programme of Seakeepers International.

Duncan and Larissa are keen to hear about any citizen science projects they may be missing that can be added to the directory. Also to hear from those who have used the directory to participate in projects themselves.

The OCC Challenge Grant scheme has two categories; the Adventure Challenge Grant and the Conservation Challenge Grant. Prior membership of the OCC is not required in order to apply. If you, or someone known to you is planning a particularly ambitious sail-exploration or is planning a similarly ambitious maritime conservation or environmental project, consider applying for an OCC Challenge Grant. Further details including eligibility criteria and how to apply are available on the OCC website.