Ella Cameron, Grade 10

Sylvia Earle and the Depths of Discovery 

Ella Cameron

Yarmouth High School, Grade 10

Sylvia Earle is an accomplished oceanographer and marine biologist, gaining numerous achievements and “firsts” throughout her career, making her such a fascinating and interesting unsung hero. Earle’s success as a woman in STEM is awe-inspiring to so many young girls, including myself, but despite her numerous accolades Earle is relatively unknown. For reference, just a few of her accomplishments include the world record for the deepest untethered dive (1,250 feet below the surface of the Pacific), discovering a new red alga which she named the “Hummbrella hydra”, leading the first all-female team of women aquanauts as part of the Tektite II experiment, collaborating on the design of the “Deep Rover,”and becoming the first female chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. She has been mentioned in a number of publications, including Time Magazine where she was the first “Hero of the Planet,” In New York Times she was called “Her Deepness” and she was called a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress. This is but a portion of all of Earle’s accomplishments. Her 100+ expeditions, 7,000+ hours underwater, 200+ publications authored, and 90 countries lectured in is a testament to that. Throughout all of this, Earle has been an avid advocate for protecting the biodiversity of oceans, reducing pollution, and increased oceanic exploration and research. Her hard work and determination is uplifting, and her story needs to be heard by more audiences. She truly is such a remarkable woman, scientist, oceanographer, marine biologist, lecturer, author, and person. 

I believe that Sylvia Earle’s most important trait is her passion. Her actions, remarkable as they are, were only possible through years of hard work and dedication in many diverse aspects of marine biology. Earle has worked first hand in marine biology research, the engineering and design of submersibles, and has explored the depths– quite literally the deepest depths a human can go with present-day technology– of the ocean. I really wanted to encapsulate these three aspects of Earle’s career in my artwork (research, engineering, and oceanic exploration). To begin with, I highlighted Earle’s work in relation to the species, “Hummbrella hydra,” a type of red seaweed Earle discovered and named herself. I did so by scattering red algae across the seafloor. Additionally, I underscored Earle’s impact on the field of engineering in relation to marine biology by including the submersible “Deep Rover,” amongst the other machines. Having recently founded Deep Ocean Engineering and Deep Ocean Technology, Earle designed the rover with the help of Graham Hawkes. This vehicle is capable of reaching depths of 3,000 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. As for oceanic exploration, I included the JIM diving suit which was worn by Earle during her record-breaking deepest untethered dive, as well as a Newtsub, a single-person submarine. I was really intrigued and impressed by all of the technology required to withstand the pressure of deep-sea diving and to explore the ocean. In fact, Earle’s JIM suit withstood 600 pounds per square inch of pressure during her record-breaking deepest dive. Lastly, I included Earle herself, fitted in SCUBA gear, admiring her life’s work in the place she is most passionate about– the ocean, and all the life that relies on it. 

In my art piece, I truly wanted to evoke a sense of awe and admiration from the viewer, enticing them to learn more about Sylvia Earle and her legacy, while in the process making her all that much less “unsung”. By compiling many of Earle’s tangible accomplishments in one location, I have expressed much of her life's work. Additionally, the setting of the art piece covers Earle’s more conceptual accomplishments, including dedicating her career to oceanography and the study of marine life. I hope to have encapsulated some of that “passion” I had mentioned earlier in Earle’s expression. I hope to have captured her admiration of the complex mechanical works ahead of her, as well as all of the biological life that surrounds her. 

I am so incredibly inspired by all that Sylvia Earle has accomplished and is continuing to accomplish to this day. While I may not know exactly what I want to do with my life (as very few highschool students do), I aspire to have as much passion as Earle does for her work. Although I am not sure of the logistics, I aspire to succeed in male-dominated fields such as stem or science, I pride myself on my passion, and I hope to make a significant impact on the lives of those around me, be it through engineering breakthroughs or scientific discoveries or medical advancement, or solely through the art that I create. If anyone has said that I am capable of such a thing, Sylvia Earle has proven it trifold. Through her story, I know that I can inspire others, even just in my community. In fact, my school’s Drawing and Painting program will display my artwork, “Sylvia Earle and the Depths of Discovery,” in the Merrill Memorial Library located in Yarmouth, ME, where I hope that of the hundred or so eyes that pass over my painting, a small handful considers it a moment longer; that it makes a lasting impact on their lives. If my painting has done that much, then it has done all that it needed to do.