Inspiring Marine Scientist and Climate Activist – Dr. Yolanda Waters

tiani dun
Jul 20
10 min read

Dr Yolanda Waters (center) at Climate Action Week Sydney

Hi Yolanda! Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Yolanda, I am marine social scientist, and I am the CEO and founder of Divers for Climate. I sit in this weird space in marine conservation where I don't study fish, I study humans, and how we think, feel and connect to nature and how we act to protect it. Particularly nature, as in blue nature –so marine environments, and I use tourism and people's direct experience of these environments to see how they can lead to more engagement in environmental action, specifically, climate action.

I grew up on the Central Coast, I was along the beach but was actually terrified of the ocean! I didn't like salt, sand, sharks, seaweed, anything! So it's been a long journey for me to come around. My younger self would never believe the work I do now!

Dr Yolanada Waters (right) speaking at a Divers for Climate event

What inspired you to first start your work in marine conservation?
I wasn't a marine person, I studied biology and environmental science in Canberra, so it was inland, and nothing to do with fish or corals. It was when I got to my Honours year when the coral reef restoration program was just starting on the Great Barrier Reef. I found that interesting, so I went up to interview the people in that program, asking them if the program was going to save coral reefs.

Every single person I interviewed said that restoration is a great tool that we can use, but we know that it won't work unless we solve climate change. When I asked, "okay, well what are we doing about climate change?" They all said, "well that's not really our space or where we work." So I realised there was a gap there.
After I finished my degree I felt lost, I didn't know what to do or where to work. My stepmother at the time suggested I work in Cairns for a year, get my divemaster, work on the reef, and see what happens! So I went and the experience really changed my life. Working on the reef, meeting people, spending days and days doing dives I'd never done before was what really changed everything for me. And it wasn't necessarily the marine life, but the conversations I had during that time.

Yolanda working in Cairns on the GBR
So for me, what inspired me most was working out there on the reef everday. I was having the best time of my life, and when you're out there everyday, you get to see all the amazing things that nobody else gets to see! So I felt very lucky.
Can you tell us more about how Divers for Climate began?
When I was working on the GBR I would have hundreds of tourists coming everyday asking you things, like, what's the deal with climate change? Is the GBR really dead? I found those conversations really hard, because I didn't actually know the answers. I would say, well, I know the news says it's dead... but the reef we're going to today isn't! The site we're going to today is beautiful, because I saw it yesterday. Just don't kick the corals, don't throw rubbish on the reef, basically what anybody working in tourism would day. But I wasn't satisfied with this answer and felt like I could give people more.
Yolanda Waters Diving on the GBR. Credit: The Undertow Media
How do I have those conversations and answer these questions in a way that actually makes a difference? I had no idea, so I started to ask questions and ask for support. The more people that I asked, the more I found that it was a common experience for people to avoid that conversation. People wanted to talk about reef resilience, and things we could do on the site, but when it came to climate change, it was too much. It's too big, we don't want to freak anyone out, it's too political, we don't want to ruin anyone's day. And that, to me, was an answer and this was turning point 2. I know that if we want to protect reefs in the future we need to get global emissions under control. And so far all I'd heard was "it's not our job" and "we don't talk about it." So this is where I started my journey. I remember doing my instructor's course and we focused a lot on turtle conservation, restoration and cleanups, and when I asked what about climate change? They said, "we don't really have those discussions," and "that's not really our role here." So there was a lot of avoiding talking about it, which was confusing for me because I thought, "well if we're not talking about it then how are we going to protect this place that is so special?" Indeed, the place was special, and the community was special.
Divers for Climate campaigning for ambitious climate action
The dive community is so unique and welcoming, so I wondered, "what is going on?" We were all feeling and seeing these big questions, and we're at the frontlines of something huge, and yet nobody was talking about it, and why? That's what my PhD was about, psychologically, how do we talk about climate change in a way that leads to action and engagement? It was practical and applied but also involved a lot of psychological theory and behavioural theory. Divers for Climate was a space besides all that. It was an online group that allowed divers from all around the world to talk about these big questions that people were having trouble with. So Divers for Climate is a non-profit now, but it still very much holds that original idea as a space for conversation, where we have these frontline stories and experiences, it's an intersection of divers and this amazing marine world. Tourism which is a huge industry, and we engage with thousands and thousands of tourists every single day! Most people are aware and concerned of climate change but are not necessarily actively doing anything about it. So how do we move those people? I think diving is a great way to do that, and I think most divers know that but haven't had the tools so far to talk about it. I think with my communication skills this is what I can do to help. It's my way of contributing to how we protect reefs in the future, and it's just one of many.

Can you share one of your most memorable experiences while diving underwater?
I always get asked this and I don't think I have one! I always love diving with friends, but I've never really seen any huge, huge critters. So I'm easily impressed, a few schools of fish and it's the best day of my life! A few stand-out dives would be one of my first night dives on the GBR, it was at Norman Reef and we were working on a liveaboard at the time and I remember there being so many reef sharks and giant trevally hunting, and I was so scared because I was scared of the dark and new to diving, and I remember it being absolutely incredible.

Yolanda scuba diving on the GBR
Another time was probably while drift diving in Indonesia, I felt like I was in a video game, I'd never flown so fast!

What challenges do you face as a marine scientist and how do you overcome them?
I think one of my main challenges is that social science is such a niche, and not everyone takes social science seriously. I would never pretend to be an ecologist because I know about nature, because I don't have that training. But because everyone's a person and everyone's human, everyone thinks that social science is just common sense. Which in a lot of ways it kind of is, but it's also a science and I do find that being a young woman going into these really technical spaces of marine science and climate science, maybe it's my imposter syndrome but I do find it difficult to be taken seriously sometimes.

Yolanda speaking at the Tropical North Queensland annual conference
I do find it challenging sometimes to stand my ground, often to older, white men who think they know better. I find it hard to navigate that sometimes. But at the end of the day a lot of the problems facing our marine environment are people problems, and how we fix them comes down to how people think, feel and act and make decisions. Because nomatter how much technical science we have it's going to come down to people working together and making things happen. So how I overcome some of those problems I come back to this point.
So what do we do with all of the science being done? How do we get it into policy and into practise? Finding that common understanding and common ground really helps.
How do you stay updated on the latest research in marine conservation?
A huge percentage of my work, maybe around 60%, is relationship building and talking to people, catching up for coffees, having Zoom calls and lunches to see what others are working on. It's genuinely great because most people in this space are amazing, and catching up on what's going on in all these big programs is so interesting. I mean, I've signed up to all the mailing lists and kind of I've got research alerts on too, but I usually get most of the information by talking to people directly. Being in touch with people and catching up is the best way to find out new things that aren't published yet, to see what directions people are going in and where we might be able to collaborate or where we might be able to use or pass that knowledge on.
Yolanda presenting her research on people and the Great Barrier Reef
Also, I won't lie, social media, because who am I kidding? A lot of those research groups and scientists now are on social media. I always check my sources, but for the latest research or headlines, social media is not a bad place to find them!

Can you share any tips or advice for aspiring marine scientists?
Marine science is more than just marine biology. I wish I had known that earlier. When I finished my undergraduate degree, I couldn't believe when my honour's supervisor was like, yeah, you can go interview some reef restoration people. Because I was like, "whoa! I'm not a marine biologist. That's so cool." I wish I had known there were so many ways you could do marine conservation and marine science. Beyond the physical sciences, there's a whole diversity within the conservation field, like decision science, social science, communication science, political science, governance, and more! What about going back to connecting with traditional knowledge and storytelling and how do we do science in a different way that's not just through a Western lens? I think my advice to anyone looking to go to marine science is to really look at what they enjoy doing and what marine science could look like. You know, the beauty of like, if you expand the idea of marine science and conservation into arts and humanities, there's a billion things you could do. And I think that's great because it means you don't have to have a technical, quantitative science brain to do marine science. We need all kinds of thinkers in this space. And I think I hope that people going into the marine space now know that and that all kinds of skills are welcome and you don't have to be a biologist.

Dr Yolanda Waters presenting her PhD Thesis
I love when people ask me fish questions because I have terrible, terrible answers because my fish ID is shocking. It's the yellow stripey fish, I don't really know. But then I can come and talk about the psychology of climate change communication. Everything's got its place. And I wish there were more humanities and arts and different ways of connecting disciplines. Because in the end, that interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary lens is how we solve these problems. So my advice is to look beyond what you think is traditional marine science and find your way in the field that way.

What are your favorite locations or dive sites and why?
I mean, I'm biased. I haven't dived a ridiculous amount of places, but I just love everywhere on the Great Barrier Reef. And I haven't even done the reef's best dive sites yet. Like, I haven't been out to the Coral Sea. I haven't done the Yongala yet. But it's just special. Every time I dive on the reef is special. I think it's more what I connect it to, like the people and those life experiences that I've had there. It's more than just a physical place to me. And I feel that when I dive in it. So maybe that's not the most exciting answer, but it's definitely my favourite.
Yolanda diving on the GBR. Credit: The Undertow Media
Have you ever encountered any unexpected or dangerous situations while diving?
I wouldn't say so, no. Probably just like not enjoyable visibility. Diving in this Wave Break Island, the Gold Coast. I remember I was taking an open water course and the visibility was like mud. And I was like, I do not want to get in the water. And my students are like, we don't want to get in the water. But we got in the water. And the whole time I was like, what is under here? I don't want to be here right now.

So that was just scary, but I don't think it was dangerous at all. It was so shallow. But no, I don't think I've had any issues while diving so far. I've always had pretty cruisy experiences, but maybe that's just because I've chosen pretty cruisy places to dive.
How do you think underwater photography can contribute to marine conservation efforts?
Well, I have two answers. One is pretty obvious, and I know that narrative that goes around, you know, people can't protect what they don't know, they can't know what they don't see. And so, you know, photography is a way of bringing those things to the surface and making the ocean more accessible. And it's an amazing mechanism for storytelling.

Yolanda photographing the GBR. Credit: The Undertow Media
I think photography definitely is a hook, that has so much weight to it. It's that beauty, that art, that emotional piece. It definitely connects people to something bigger. I think underwater photographers all contribute in that way.

And in a practical sense, every single marine conservation NGO or campaign needs great photos. That's how you sell things and get through to media. That's how you get the attention of politicians.

And incredible photos, they talk, right? So, I think that's obviously a really big one for campaigning and making changes within the system.
Yolanda Waters protesting for climate action now!