On the Ocean People 

Lisa Campbell

Since August 2015, the radio program On the Ocean has been presented each Tuesday morning at ~8:30 on KAMU. Initially, I wanted to highlight the research done by faculty in the Department of Oceanography and present it in a way that is accessible to a general audience and to stress the importance of the ocean to everyday life. Mckensie Daugherty Le Fevre was important to our initial success, as she interviewed faculty, wrote, and edited scripts texts to present on KAMU (with the generous support from Mark Edwards and currently Matt Dittman). Later, I expanded the scope of the program because I wanted to give my graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to write about and present ocean topics for a general audience. We now have a catalog of 25 series (with 4-13 episodes in each) that will continue to grow. Check out past episodes on our website, ontheocean.tamu.edu, for recordings, texts, and links for additional information.

McKensie Le Fevre  

My name is McKensie Le Fevre and I was the inaugural host of the TAMU Oceanography podcast, “On the Ocean”. It began as an inspiring idea from the Dr. Lisa Campbell Laboratory to communicate ocean science and with support from the TAMU Oceanography Department, we built a podcast on oceanographic concepts catered to a broad audience, and it grew into a podcast airing once a week on the local radio station KAMU. I had a wonderful time interviewing professors on their amazing research and collating their knowledge into small segments for public radio broadcasting. The support from oceanography faculty and the department itself made the experience a wonderful entrance into science communication, and the KAMU staff were incredibly supportive and helpful. I am so happy the podcast lives on with each new host, it was certainly an amazing experience for me!

Jacob Arnold

Hi, I am Jacob Arnold and I was the third On the Ocean radio host. I immensely enjoyed my time with OTO which involved writing and editing scripts, maintaining/building the website, and, of course, recording episodes at the KAMU studio. As a physical oceanographer I learned a considerable amount about research outside my realm from working with scripts focused on topics like marine viruses, harmful algal blooms, and cloud formation. Even within my specialty I gained experience in the difficult art of communicating complex scientific topics briefly and to a broad audience. I enjoyed working with Dr. Campbell who freely offered advice and direction and has kept OTO going since the start. I will always remember my time with OTO and am thrilled to have had this experience.

James Fiorendino

Hi, I am James Fiorendino and I took over hosting On the Ocean from McKensie. While I was a graduate student in the Department of Oceanography at Texas A&M, studying phytoplankton dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico and working in the laboratory of Dr. Lisa Campbell. I have always been interested in communicating science. That is why I volunteered when this position opened up. I interview inTAMU’s Department of Oceanography and produce short weekly segments. Initially I worked with Mark Edwards, radio traffic director at KAMU-FM until his unfortunate passing in 2020. I really appreciated the opportunity to meet and talk to professors in the department. I learned a lot when interviewing the professors, plus it helped me to understand the other types of research going on and to share this information about ocean science and share it with a larger audience.

Ashley Sebok

I am Ashley Sebok, a 3rd-year Phd graduate student in the Department of Atmospheric Science at TAMU. This is my first year continuing such a wonderful podcast, communicating the detailed work we do here at Texas A&M with those that it impacts, the public. Though I am technically not in the Oceanography Department, the similarities and relationships that the ocean shares with the atmosphere are numerous. I am excited to be your new host and learn myself more of the complexities of the ocean.

Special Thanks to Mark Edwards