World Ocean Explorer Team Reflects on the United Nations Ocean Conference
Notes from the UNESCO-IOC Beyond Borders Pavilion in the Green Zone
Nice, France June 2025
During the two packed days of the conference, Bjorn and I engaged with hundreds of people — educators, scientists, policymakers, and environmental advocates. All were united by a shared goal: to deepen public understanding of and responsibility for ocean stewardship. Each conversation revealed an eagerness to bring World Ocean Explorer into more classrooms around the world.
“Before departing for the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, I felt a combination of excitement and anticipation. I was eager to join my colleague, Dr. Bjorn Grigholm, to present World Ocean Explorer, a dynamic, immersive, and freely accessible 3D platform created to promote global ocean literacy.
Dr. Grigholm has dedicated several years to developing this project in collaboration with Trisha Badger and Peter Neill, the Director and Founder of the World Ocean Observatory. Their collective efforts were recently recognized with two major honors: the Unity for Humanity Social Impact Prize, awarded by Unity Technologies to support initiatives using real-time 3D (RT3D) technology, and the Serious Play Gold Award, which celebrates outstanding digital tools for education and game-based learning.
As the newest member of the team and a full-time public school teacher, I have had the privilege of serving as the Educator Advisor for World Ocean Explorer over the past year. My primary focus has been to broaden the platform’s reach by inviting educators from around the world to use it in their classrooms and share their feedback. So far, teachers from Anguilla, The Bahamas, Australia, Thailand, both coasts of the United States, Liberia, and Nigeria have introduced Explorer to their students. The responses have been overwhelmingly positive. Students have not only been impressed by the immersive design, but have also become deeply engaged with the content.
Even with these successes, I felt a bit nervous about attending such a large-scale international event far from home. At the same time, I was inspired by the chance to connect with a global network of educators, policymakers, scientists, and advocates who share a common commitment to ocean protection and education.
That nervousness faded quickly as soon as Bjorn and I arrived at the Palais des Expositions and received our credentials. The energy in the venue was immediately invigorating. The space was filled with passionate individuals and thought-provoking exhibits, showcasing topics such as polar ecosystems, hydrothermal vents, innovative responses to rising sea levels, and urgent efforts to protect endangered species like the scalloped hammerhead shark. It became clear that we were among a community that shared our mission.
At our exhibit, I had the pleasure of meeting Yukiya Hanada from Japan, representing “Crayons as a Window to the World.” He presented me with a stunning set of 12 unnamed crayons, each shade inspired by satellite images of the ocean. The set encourages children to see and appreciate the sea in imaginative and meaningful ways. I also connected with Dr. Manuela Krakau from Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment and Nature Conservation. She was enthusiastic about Explorer and expressed confidence that many German educators would be excited to implement it in their teaching. Sarah Duffy, Head of Education for Common Seas in the UK, described how her organization empowers students to reduce single-use plastics in their communities. I was also moved by a conversation with Mario Cabrera Lavara from Spain, who leads a heartfelt initiative called “Letters to the Sea,” in which children write messages expressing both their admiration for and concern about the ocean.
During the two packed days of the conference, Bjorn and I engaged with hundreds of people — educators, scientists, policymakers, and environmental advocates. All were united by a shared goal: to deepen public understanding of and responsibility for ocean stewardship. We exchanged many business cards and established connections with educators from Mauritius, the Seychelles, India, Senegal, China, Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Maldives, Japan, South Africa, and many other countries. Each conversation revealed an eagerness to bring World Ocean Explorer into more classrooms around the world.
After returning home, I felt both physically exhausted and emotionally energized. Presenting at UNOC3 was an unforgettable and deeply rewarding experience. It gave us the opportunity to introduce a transformative learning platform to a global audience. Thanks to the relationships formed during the conference, World Ocean Explorer is poised to reach even more students worldwide, inspiring curiosity, expanding knowledge, and fostering a stronger connection to the blue heart of our planet.”
— Nell Hermann, M.A., M.S., Blue Hill Consolidated School, Educator Advisor for World Ocean Explorer
“Arriving at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, I was grateful for the opportunity to travel and present World Ocean Explorer to an international audience. After years in development, it was both humbling and exciting to bring this work to a global stage — sharing it with educators, scientists, and ocean advocates from around the world, and contributing to a broader conversation on ocean literacy, conservation, and education.
Together with my colleague Nell Herrmann, WOE’s Educator Advisor, we exhibited in the Beyond Borders Pavilion located within the Green Zone — a public engagement space designed to bring together educators, scientists, artists, NGOs, youth organizations, and the general public for open exchange, creativity, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, separate from the formal diplomatic negotiations taking place in the Blue Zone.
From the moment we stepped into the Palais des Expositions and clipped on our badges, the energy of the space was palpable. Booths showcasing ocean research, conservation efforts, data visualizations, policy frameworks, interactive art, and engineering innovations stretched in every direction. I found myself immediately drawn to the diversity of expression on display — scientific posters next to ocean-themed art installations; climate policy reports next to vibrant children’s projects; data visualization tools blending technology and science. Each exhibit offered its own lens on ocean stewardship, and the overall effect was one of shared commitment and global urgency.
Over two full days, Nell and I welcomed a steady stream of visitors: educators, scientists, policy makers, artists, students, and members of the public from around the world. We had rich conversations with individuals from countries as far-reaching as Mauritius, Japan, Germany, India, the Maldives, Senegal, South Africa, New Zealand, Sweden, and China. It was deeply rewarding to see how World Ocean Explorer resonated across such varied audiences — each bringing their own cultural, educational, and scientific perspectives into the conversation. Many educators expressed excitement about bringing the Explorer platform into their classrooms, seeing its potential to ignite student curiosity while offering a globally accessible, immersive approach to ocean literacy.
One of the most meaningful aspects of the experience for me was observing how different generations engaged with Explorer. Adults — teachers, researchers, and policy makers — generally adapted quickly after a brief orientation on the controls and navigation. But when young students approached, their interaction was almost immediate. Without hesitation, they grabbed the controls, explored freely, zoomed in and out of exhibits, and moved through the virtual ocean spaces with an instinctive ease. Their natural curiosity and comfort with discovery underscored exactly why we created World Ocean Explorer — to offer a tool that allows young people to explore, question, and learn at their own pace.
Throughout the Pavilion, I found myself equally inspired by the other exhibitors. One powerful installation visualized the movement of microplastics through ocean currents, highlighting the growing importance of addressing plastic pollution and its impact on marine ecosystems. Another featured beautifully rendered satellite-based oceanographic models that blended art and science seamlessly. I was struck by how many projects occupied that intersection — blending disciplines to tell complex ocean stories in new and engaging ways. It was a reminder that solutions to ocean challenges will not emerge from any single field alone, but from the collaboration of science, policy, education, engineering, and art.
As I reflect on the experience back home, I carry with me not only new contacts and opportunities for collaboration, but a renewed sense of purpose. Being at UNOC3 affirmed that World Ocean Explorer is part of something much larger — a global movement to elevate ocean education, encourage cross-cultural learning, and inspire the next generation of ocean stewards. I’m grateful for the chance to have been part of that conversation — and look forward to where these connections may lead next.”
— Bjorn Grigholm, PhD. Platform and Educational Developer
About World Ocean Explorer
World Ocean Observatory owes a special debt of gratitude to the following collaborators and individuals who supported efforts to build the World Ocean Explorer platform and to attend the UNOC3 Conference:
Schmidt Ocean Institute whose prescience, imagination, media and content, data, and financial support allowed for the construction of and expansion plans for the Deep Sea platform; Daniel K Thorne Foundation and Seth Sprague Educational & Charitable Foundation for their support of the Explorer platform and the ability to maintain it as a free resource for students and educators worldwide; and to Unity Technologies for the Unity for Humanity Social Impact Prize for 2025. And a special thanks to UNESCO-IOC for inviting World Ocean Observatory to participate in Beyond Borders
About Beyond Borders
Beyond Borders was a pavilion within the Green Zone at this year’s UN Ocean Conference. Hosted by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO-IOC), the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) and Italy’s CNR-ISMAR, from 2–13 June 2025 in the Green Zone of the Palais des Expositions in Nice, inviting the public to engage with ocean literacy, conservation, and marine biodiversity.
Through exhibitions, interactive activities, and immersive storytelling, the pavilion highlighted how our choices shape the future of the ocean. It showcased concrete and inspiring initiatives such as World Ocean Explorer, and connected science, culture, and community action, calling on visitors to protect the ocean that connects us all.
About World Ocean Observatory
The WORLD OCEAN OBSERVATORY is a major utility for ocean and climate communication as a means to advance public awareness, and is dedicated to providing science-based information and standard-meeting educational resources about the health of the climate and the ocean. We believe that informed citizens worldwide can unite to sustain the ocean through mitigation and change of human behavior on land and sea. Our focus is the full spectrum of ocean issues: climate, fresh water, food, energy, trade, transportation, public health, finance, governance, security, recreation, and culture. It is our belief that the sea connects all things.
OUR MISSION
The W2O is the leading organization advocating for the health and sustainability of climate and ocean through an accessible worldwide network of communication. Through education, partnership, information exchange, public connection, and relentless communications, W2O is committed to building an expansive global community of Citizens of the Ocean to promote and conserve marine resources for the future of all mankind. Online at WorldOceanObservatory.org
World Ocean Explorer is a free, web-based, educational, interactive 3D platform for ocean exploration and discovery, for use by students K-12+. A cutting-edge virtual immersion, Explorer presents an astonishing simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of ocean life, with layers of detailed data, information, and stunning visualizations of the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the theme-based modules, students will visit exemplary underwater sites, provided with directives and opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge. Through immersion among displays from a web-based browser, educational mixed media, 3D models, a theater experience with browsable short films, a virtual aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms and home school environments. Explorer is infinitely accessible: a good Internet connection and a laptop — preferably a Chromebook — are all that are required. Online at WorldOceanExplorer.org
