Leslie Smith grew up fascinated by Ranger Rick and Bill Nye the Science Guy. As she spent her childhood summers playing in Chesapeake Bay, she learned the importance of being a steward of the environment. Her passion and enthusiasm for coastal ecosystems carried her through four years at the Graduate School of Oceanography, where she studied under Professor Candace Oviatt and earned a doctorate examining the relationship between wastewater treatment facility discharges and low oxygen events in Narragansett Bay.

But along the way from child to Ph.D., as she watched beaches erode, blue crab and lobster populations decline, and sewage discharge into the two bays she called home, she felt a slightly different calling. “There is a lot of amazing oceanographic research occurring around the world, but not enough is being done to communicate it to the public,” she said. And while communication isn’t every scientist’s strength, Smith knew that she was up to the task. So she sought out every opportunity she could to talk about science with a wide variety of audiences, from senior citizens to schoolchildren. She even won an award that allowed her to travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress and attend a briefing about the federal budget for scientific research.

Smith eventually launched two complimentary businesses, Your Ocean Consulting, which helps ocean-related organizations communicate their programs and research to non-scientific audiences, and Dive into the Ocean, which teaches elementary school students about the importance of the oceans through hands-on activities.

“For children of the new millennium,” she said, “there is so much to fear for in the well-being of the environment. In order to tackle global issues, they need to feel empowered, to be informed, and to understand the science behind these phenomena, regardless of their future careers.”

Smith knows that the answers to most of the world’s environmental questions lie in scientific research. She also knows that research won’t see the light of day unless it can be effectively communicated to decision makers and the public. And she’s just the one to make that happen.