Blue Innovation 2024

Blue Innovation exists to connect researchers, organizations, and community members who are passionate about protecting our ocean and water sources. There is an urgent need, as well as an opportunity, for scalable new technologies, solutions, and ventures to improve ocean and water sustainability.

Join us on Sunday, October 6, 2024, from 11:00am-3:30pm for a variety of activities in and outside of the UC Santa Cruz Seymour Marine Discovery Center for a full day of inspirational exhibits from companies, artists, small businesses, non-profits, and researchers who are tackling the water and ocean challenges created by climate change. Enjoy food trucks, live bands, tours, scavenger hunts, fun hands on activities for all ages, and information on the latest technologies, research, and programs for supporting our blue planet.

Don’t miss the O’Neill Sea Odyssey raffle with prizes like signed Jimbo Phillips prints and a sunset sail. Register for free and be automatically entered. Pickup your raffle tickets at the SCW Information Booth by the bike valet no later than 1pm! Winners will be announced at 1:45 pm and must be present to claim prizes.

All outdoor activities are FREE and open to the public (e.g., lightning talks, exhibits, tours, bands, food trucks, etc). Workshops are pay-what-you-can admission and access to the Seymour Center’s interior exhibit hall, both require a separate admission fee.

Blue Innovation is hosted by Santa Cruz Works and the Seymour Marine Discovery Center at UC Santa Cruz in collaboration with UC Santa Cruz Innovation and Business Engagement Hub, the City of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County Office of Education, and Cabrillo College.

Blue Innovation is sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, Ocean Film Festival, Epicenter Cycling, Santa Cruz METRO, and O’Neill Sea Odyssey.

Interested in being a sponsor? Reach out to us.

Blue Innovation Event Schedule

  • All Day Activities

    • Outdoor Scavenger Hunt: Look for and learn from landmarks around the Coastal Science Campus! Use one of the guides to get started. 

    • Geocache: Geocaching is a type of search where people look for cashes, or hidden stashes of objects. Learn about larval fish by exploring geocaches around the Coastal Science Campus.

    • Live Music: Main Stage with Cruz Control and The Joint Chiefs

    • Food trucks: a wide range of yummies from pastries and coffee to sandwiches, burritos, and more.

    • Behind-the-Scenes Research Tour - Seymour Marine Center will offer tours to the Long Marine Lab, where you can learn about marine mammal research that happens at UCSC. Ask the front desk to sign up - space is limited. Pay to attend.

  • 9:30am

    • Exhibitor setup

  • 11:00am

    • OPEN: Blue Innovation exhibits, live music, and food trucks open

    • Networking Pavilion: hosted by UC Santa Cruz - open all day for meetings

    • Workshop 1: Managing Ocean Risk in Aquaculture - Scoot Science / Jon LaRiviere

    • Fish farmers face complex decisions balancing sales, resources, and animal welfare in a changing ocean environment.UCSC oceanographers created software tools to turn ocean data into actionable insights for improving fish health and welfare. 

    • Band: Cruz Control

    • Seymour tours and scavenger hunts (every 30 minutes)

  • 11:45am

    • Lightning Talks: 2 minute presentations by key researchers and exhibitors on the Main Stage

  • 12:00-12:45pm Workshop 2: Coastal Erosion - Professor Gary Griggs

    • The coastline has been eroding for thousands of years and this will continue well into the foreseeable future, driven by a gradually rising sea level, but more importantly in the short term, extreme events such as we experienced during the past two winters. Very large waves arriving simultaneously with extreme high tides are the conditions when most coastal storm damage and erosion have occurred historically. Our options for responding to these events are limited, but we need to look forward and make decisions on how we will adapt to a different future. Gary Griggs / Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz

  • 1:00pm

    • Band: The Joint Chiefs

    • 1PM-1:45PM | Workshop 3: Building Coastal Resilience | Tiffany Wise-West

      • The City of Santa Cruz’ 4.5 mile coast has taken a beating the past two storm seasons. While the City has undertaken significant coastal climate adaptation efforts in recent years to address episodic storm events and slower impacts from sea level rise, coastal storm damage in the winter of 2023 created a new community imperative to address coastal change. Sustainability and Resiliency Officer, Dr. Tiffany Wise will share the City's approach to building coastal resilience proactively and collaboratively.

  • 1:15pm

    • Book Reading: Luke McLean's book about our beloved Otter 841 "Amelia Otter's Mischief in the Water" will be read at the SurfAid exhibit booth

  • 1:45pm

    • Special Announcement: Raffle Award Winners Announced! We are giving away prizes including sailing on the O’Neill Sea Odyssey, signed Jimbo Phillips prints, MERGE4 socks, Principal Faucet Kitchen unit, and much more. If you registered on Eventbrite, you will automatically be entered into the drawing but you need to be present to win. Winners will be announced on main stage!

  • 2:15PM-3:00PM | Workshop 4: Why Green Hydrogen? - Emily Cole, Verdagy

    • Why Green Hydrogen? Heavy industries such as chemical production (think fertilizers for agriculture) and Oil & Gas refining, are plagued with processes that produce millions of tons of CO2 each year.  Moss Landing’s very own green hydrogen company, Verdagy has patented a novel and scalable approach to producing hydrogen, with no CO2.  Join Scientist Emily Cole as she shares an overview of why green hydrogen is a critical tool in the clean energy economy and how it works.

  • 3:00PM-3:30PM | Workshop 5: Restoring Mangrove Habitats for Community Resilience and Climate Action - Lee Pearson

    • In this workshop, Lee Pearson, CEO of Wovoka, will explore the crucial role of coastal ecosystems like mangroves, seagrasses, and peatlands in carbon sequestration and marine biodiversity. As a leading carbon project developer in the Philippines, Wovoka identifies degraded land and assesses its carbon storage potential through habitat restoration. Learn about the innovative tools used to locate abandoned fish ponds for mangrove restoration and how Wovoka secures financing to restore over 5,000 acres of vital habitat. Discover the science behind these efforts and how they seek to benefit both local communities and the global climate.

  • 3:30pm

    • CLOSE: Event Ends and gates close

Event Layout and Parking Map

Check out the event layout here. Attendees, please park in Lot 206. Lot 206 is about a 5 minute walk to the event location. Limited ADA parking spaces are available at the event in Lot 201. We strongly recommend carpooling or riding your bike and parking it in our Bike Valet area (free bike valet!).

JOIN US!

  • ATTENDEES: Free. Limited parking available requires a 5 minute walk to main event area. We strongly recommend carpooling or riding your bike and parking it in our Bike Valet area. Limited ADA parking available at the event. Win tickets to our raffle by registering to attend HERE.

  • VOLUNTEERS: To volunteer at this event, please reach email Sarah Groff sgroff@ucsc.edu with the subject line: Blue Innovation 2024 Volunteer.

  • SEYMOUR MUSEUM ACCESS: Blue Innovation exhibits are outside the museum. If you would like to go into the facilities, click HERE.

  • EXHIBIT [ SOLD OUT ]: If you are an entity focused on ocean and water solutions, you are invited to exhibit at this event. “Entities” include: organizations, researchers, artists, startups small businesses, surfboard shapers, etc. If you are unsure if you qualify, Contact Us first before signing up. Check out our Exhibitors for Blue Innovation 2024

Check out our 2022 event!

Short Overview of Blue Innovation 2022

Full length video about Blue Innovation 2022.