The goal of My Deep Sea, My Backyard was to enable Kiribati and Trinidad & Tobago to explore their own deep-sea backyards using low-cost technology, while building lasting capacity.

My Deep Sea, My Backyard was created in response to the specific and growing need for deep-ocean accessibility, especially as >90% of the ocean is considered deep sea (>200 m). Furthermore, the vast majority of countries have deep sea within their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), sometimes occupying substantial volumes, yet only a small fraction of these countries have deep-sea access for scientific study. This is overwhelmingly due to a dearth of technological capability and knowledge and leads to a lack of exploration, inappropriate or inadequate management decisions, and unaware populations.

We held training workshops on low-cost, deep sea technologies in both Kiribati and Trinidad & Tobago in 2018 and 2019, as well as numerous public outreach events. The project had many successes and challenges, and our learnings have been submitted for publication.

Team: Diva Amon, Randi Rotjan, Brian Kennedy, Gerard Alleng, Rafa Anta, Eriatera Aram, Thera Edwards, Marcia Ford-Creary, Kristina Gjerde, Judith Gobin, Laura-Ashley Henderson, Richard Hinds, Alexis Hope, Raquel Khan Ali, Sebastian Lanser, Keith Lewis, Hannah Lochlan, Scott MacLean, Nabuti Mwemwenikarawa, Brennan Phillips, Betarim Rimon, Stacey-Ann Sarjursingh, Tooreka Teemari, Aranteiti Tekiau, Alan Turchik, Henri Valles, Kareati Waysang, Katy Croff Bell

Funded by: National Geographic Society and Inter-American Development Bank

2021 status: Continuing. Submitted for publication.