Imi Barneaud: Wow, wow. So you really have a very academic background. What exactly did you study to actually sort of come a few years later with this amazing project?

Trace Lane: So my bachelor’s degree is in Psychology. My first master’s is in Political Science and Public Policy. My second master’s is in International Social Welfare and Human Rights. Now, I’m working on my doctorate, and I’m studying Integrated Coastal Sciences. So essentially, I’ve looked at the different system levels that impact and prescript the way that people have access to different kinds of rights. And my particular interest is water. So yeah, now I’m looking at the human dimensions of climate change and focusing on water in particular.

Imi Barneaud: Wow. And so, what do you think ignited the Surf Sisters for Science project?

Trace Lane: Well, it actually began as a conversation. So I was living in Peru. I lived in the jungle first to study water there, then the Highlands, and then the coast. And what I was looking for was a deeper understanding of water really, and the identity of water. So I was in a conversation, and what started coming up in that conversation was the fact that surfers, well, they’re kind of like the canaries in the coal mine, right? Because you know, to surf, you have to watch the ocean, you have to know the ocean, you have to know every little shift, every little nude. And so, because of that, I was able to have a conversation with the surfer who was a longtime surfer and knew every little change of the ocean that went really far beyond some of the conversations that I’ve had with scientists, frankly. So that’s how it started. It started as one article, you know, because it was like, Hey, we should write about this, you know? And then as the story started coming in, it became clear that it was bigger than one article. And actually it needed this story. These stories needed a house built around them. So that’s where the organization came from.

Imi Barneaud: Wow. That’s amazing. So do you think you could kind of summarize what Surf Sisters for Science is all about?

Trace Lane: Sure. So, Surf Sisters for Science, our goal is to combine adventure with environmental service. And we do that through four programs, which we call our environmental service labs. The first one is a citizen science Data Lab. Second one is citizen journalism, the Story Lab. The third one is the Clean Lab that deals with microplastics, plastics, things of that nature. And then the fourth one is a knowledge exchange. And it’s not an education program necessarily, but it’s a knowledge exchange, a dialogue between different epistemologies about climate change.

Imi Barneaud: Wow. Do you think you could dig into all four different labs just to sort of give us an example?

Trace Lane: Yeah, yeah, happy to. So the Story Lab is kind of where it all started, because it started with the one article. So essentially, this is a series of interviews with longtime surfers about what they’ve seen changing in the places that they surf. And that can mean whatever it means to them, right? Can mean changes in the ocean, changes in marine life, changes in any economy that’s based around surfing, things like that. And what has started to happen is that we are, what is being built by these stories is basically an oral history of the waves in these different places, and an oral history of the changes. So, Surf Sisters for Science, the way that that would work, the way that it works, is a group comes with us to a beautiful place. We go surfing, we go hiking, we go adventuring, and then we also do these interviews. It’s always a MIX of the adventure, enjoying the place, but then also working towards protecting it. So another example, for the Data Lab, that’s the citizen science piece. One of our favorite partners that we work with is SmartFin. So yes, there’s a SUPER FUN way to do citizen science because this is actually a fin that goes on your surfboard obviously, but the thing collects data while you surf. So it’s a really fun action oriented kind of citizen science.

Imi Barneaud: Brilliant. So what’s your ties with SmartFin, and do you provide them, or you kind of go between person, how does that work?

Trace Lane: Sure. So they’re one of our partners. And what that means is that when groups come on trips with us on our adventures, then they get to use the SmartFins. We have found that, you know, we keep and let people use, but SmartFin is, you know, they’re their own thing, they’re their own organization so you can use them outside of our programming, you know, anyone could use them. In fact, I recommend that everybody uses them. You don’t have to use it, you don’t have to go through us to do that. But yeah, they’re one of our partners, and we enjoy collaborating on things. And we figured out, I guess maybe a year ago now, that we have the same goals. So we always say we’re paddling in the same direction.

Imi Barneaud: Excellent. And so, who do you collaborate with on this project?

Trace Lane: So we have a pretty strong list of partners because I’m a big believer in working with folks and not trying to have expertise in every little piece of every little thing. But you know, figuring out what it is you bring to the table, and then for the other pieces, looking for people who are doing really well, right? So SmartFin, for example, they have this awesome piece of technology, we provide sort of like the organizing around that technology and facilitate the use of it. Another example is [inaudible]. So in that example, she sort of like one of our adventure partners because we’ll be bringing a group to her surf school, and she’s going to lead the surf lesson, surf coaching, that kind of stuff, and we’ll bring the environmental service part.

Imi Barneaud: Excellent. Excellent. So which countries are you targeting? Like, it could be a global project, but do you have to target to be kind of not sort of rumble, you know, not sort of dilute, are there specific areas?

Trace Lane: Yes there are. Because every lab is part of an adventure, right? Like it’s, every trip is two things. It’s the adventure and the environmental service. It’s really sort of helped us figure out like, okay, these are the specific places we’re going to be. Because it’s like planning a trip, right? So, we’ll be in Peru, and that will be a one trip for the coast, and then one trip for the jungle. We’ll be in Baja, really looking forward to that. One of our partners, Groundswell. So, let’s see what else? Costa Rica.

Imi Barneaud: With Tarantula Surf?

Trace Lane: That’s right. United States, Outer Banks, which is close to me. So of course, going to do that one. And then in our, let’s see, next holiday season, New Zealand.

Imi Barneaud: Wow. Excellent. Yeah, this is so exciting. How you’ve actually built the dream job where you get to travel the world, you get to surf, you get to do what you’re passionate about. I mean, this is just a perfect sort of set up. And so, once you’ve collected the information and you’ve created these data labs and everything, how do you intend to influence leaders towards changing things?

Trace Lane: Sure. So this is actually a big part of the motivation for creating Surf Sisters for Science. So yeah, I found myself really bothered by some of the gaps, and the stories that were happening in areas of climate impact, and what was being reported. So part of the whole point is to report these stories through citizen journalism. And I guess, I would say give a platform to these experiences. You know, even though it began as an article that I was going to write, it seemed most appropriate to just remove myself from the story as much as possible and just make it instead of an article that, you know, maybe some people would read, I believe people would read it. But even better than that is a video where people can see it, I’m not in a way at all of this story. So what we’ll be doing on the Surf Sisters for Science website is hosting these video blogs, and that will be one way of hopefully raising awareness of these stories and these experiences of climate change. So for me, that is a way of fighting misinformation because it’s not me giving my opinion. It’s not me saying, Hey, here’s what I think should happen. Here’s what I know to be true as a climate scientist. But instead of just saying like, look, here is this person’s real life according to them, you know, do it that what you will. But I think that right now, when we’re seeing so many people in positions of world leadership who are denying climate change in, you know, that seemed to be working in a very opposite direction. This is sort of our challenge to that.

Imi Barneaud: Yeah. So how many videos have you collected so far? How many interviews?

Trace Lane: So far, we’ve got 18.

Imi Barneaud: Wow.

Trace Lane: And what we’ll be doing, and this is just sort of to launch the site until our trips began, what we’ll be doing is releasing two or three of those stories per month on our website. And then, as we go on our trip, that’ll be a whole little like a series dedicated to each place.

Imi Barneaud: Okay. Excellent. And so, you’re saying that this is a platform, but is there a kind of political or kind of something that you want to raise awareness to world leaders, or national leaders, or things like that? Is there a kind of higher outcome to get your voice heard and the voice of the people who are joining you on that platform?

Trace Lane: Definitely. Well, I would say the first goal is to demonstrate that climate change is real. While yes, it is true, the climate is always changing, right? You know, mountains are still growing. So the climate is changing, and there are a million different reasons and interconnections between, you know, natural processes in the world that lead to a changing climate. But the part that we’re focused on are the human impacts and the way that our actions are driving climate change. So number one, the goal is to validate like, Hey, this is real. Just because you’re not feeling it in your, you know, very safe life doesn’t mean that many, many people around the world aren’t feeling it because they are. It’s very real. It’s very, very real. So the second piece of that deals more with the citizen science data collection piece. So as a researcher, I’ve seen firsthand how that funding system works. And I know that it can be very difficult in the best of circumstances to get funding for your research, but when there is a political shift in opposition to the information that you’re producing, it becomes really, really hard. And so, this is another kind of push back against that, that silencing to say, Hey, here’s open source data. You can’t stop us from knowing this truth. So it becomes a really, in my opinion, a really smart way to resist that comes a smart way to organize, and it’s nonviolent, which is really important to me, so yeah.