Joining the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) Pole-to-Pole initiative transforms our Sea of Cortez scientific expedition into something bigger. Being part of MBON connects our small, grassroots expedition to a global network of scientists, communities, and observing systems working together to understand biodiversity change across the globe.

This expedition exists because one professor believed in a student. Because a president answered an email. Because a fellowship honored a captain. Because friends said yes to something improbable.

And because sometimes, when you stand on deck long enough, myth becomes real.

I am proud to be SEA class S-242.

And I am still following that wake.

When I set out to launch a grassroots scientific expedition with my friends to retrace John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts’ 1940 Sea of Cortez journey, I thought the biggest challenges would be logistics at sea, research permits, and funding. I quickly learned there was another layer I hadn’t even considered: infrastructure. As a newly independent, (thanks DOGE for getting rid of my job at NOAA) scientist working outside a traditional institution, I didn’t just need money—I needed a home base. That’s when I discovered fiscal sponsorship.

The tragic miracle of consciousness and expedition planning