ASU School of Ocean Futures celebrates inaugural graduates, student success for World Ocean Day

As the world celebrates World Ocean Day on June 8, Arizona State University celebrates its first graduating class of students from the School of Ocean Futures — less than two years later from welcoming its first cohort.

The Rob Walton College of Global Futures saw over a dozen School of Ocean Futures students — both Tempe-based and online — graduate this May.

“There is no greater joy for a school and its faculty than seeing its first cohort cross the stage,” said Susanne Neuer, professor and founding director of the School of Ocean Futures. 

“The inaugural cohort of the School of Ocean Futures did not simply complete a degree; they launched a movement to shape the future of our oceans and our planet, right here at ASU.” 

All School of Ocean Futures graduates had a chance to apply all that they learned in their coursework toward capstone projects, which included working with real-world partners like Sea Life Park Hawaiʻi.

One project, which included six undergraduate students, partnered with ASU’s Endless Games and Learning Lab and Atomontage for their project “Game for Ocean Science and Stewardship.”  

The students developed a framework for a game that would be educational, providing users with ocean literacy and a better understanding of how their lives are impacted by the ocean.

After the project, Atomantage utilized the input from students to create an outward-facing game.

“The Ocean Futures capstone is where abstract learning became professional identity for our students — through the accountability required for working with partners, learning to work within constraints, and gaining confidence in their capacity to contribute meaningfully to addressing complex challenges,” said Stephanie Pfirman, professor and deputy director of the School of Ocean Futures.

Graduating students developed a wide range of skills thanks to the transdisciplinary nature of the curriculum ranging from data, landscape and interest group analysis to learning how to make recommendations for change, including how to address resistance.

Students graduating from the online Master of Science in coastal and marine science and management program had a mix of backgrounds — some of whom already work in an ocean-related field but were looking to expand their knowledge. Others were looking for a career change. 

A survey conducted by the School of Ocean Futures showed that graduates are driven by a clear purpose: to move science out of the lab and into the world. What unifies these aspirations is a vision of work on ocean futures that is both rigorous and relational, where doing the science and communicating it are inseparable.

For Ashby Santoro, a degree in ocean futures was to be a bridge between academia and the public to promote restoration management in their home of South Florida. They worked to present their eutrophication findings to the Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.

“The successful graduation of this first cohort of MS students in coastal and marine science and management, with so many backgrounds and desires, truly embodies why and for whom the program was created,” said Robin Martin, associate professor and associate director of academics for the School of Ocean Futures. “Those who will enter a flexible degree to build transdisciplinary skills and knowledge with partners for local and global communities that will shape our future oceans.”

Graduating undergraduate students from the inaugural Ocean Futures class took advantage of the partnership with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, a unit of ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.

Ro Loucks used her funding from the Global Futures Impact Scholars program to spend a summer at BIOS studying coral reef ecology.

"Looking back, my experiences in Bermuda and as a Global Futures Impact Scholar represent more than academic milestones; they reflect how ASU has shaped who I am becoming," Loucks explained. 

Makena Krause, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in ocean futures (coastal and marine sciences), jumped feet first into ocean research before even joining the degree program through participating in the NSF-Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) at BIOS.

Working with ASU Associate Professor Eric Hochberg, she studied coral reef community metabolism and became diving certified. Upon her return, she changed her major to ocean futures and would go on to be named the spring 2026 Outstanding Undergraduate for the Rob Walton College of Global Futures.

Students remaining in the program are continuing to excel as well.

Rylee Dudley was recently awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study the coral reefs in Xpu-Há, Mexico.

Miguel Arteaga partnered with Neuer and researchers at the Kino Bay Center to create a tool that allows people to easily see how Tastiota and other estuaries have changed over time. 

Chandlee Begay works with the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, a unit of the Global Futures Laboratory, to blend cultural knowledge with sustainable agriculture through his Indigenous planting workshops. 

Delaney Sevchik, an online master's degree student who works at the Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium and Safari Park, is being featured in the ASU Online-produced docuseries called "Desert to the Deep," chronicling her upcoming travels to Bermuda to study with Hochberg at BIOS.

As the program continues to grow, the School of Ocean Futures will educate new generations of ocean leaders who are ready to tackle the most pressing challenges through discovery, partnership and solutions that advance the future of ocean science and ocean stewardship.

“The vision of our school is ‘shaping thriving ocean futures,’” said Neuer. 

“I cannot imagine a better inaugural cohort that sets the stage for the innovation, leadership and impact that will define the School of Ocean Futures for generations of students to come.”