In its fourth year, the Marine Technology Society (MTS) EMERGE (Emerging Leaders in Marine Technology) program provided critical support for promising ocean professionals to attend the OCEANS Great Lakes 2025 Conference. This year, the program hosted 19 participants and included attendees from all backgrounds: early career professionals, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
The EMERGE program is designed to provide networking opportunities and foster professional skill development for students and early-career ocean professionals (ECOPs). The participants participate in virtual convenings, in-person interactions, and connections with the marine technology community, with full travel support to attend the OCEANS 2025 conference.
Venkata Madhav, University of Maryland, stated, “Thanks to MTS and their EMERGE Program, I was able to participate in this incredible experience. The four days [at OCEANS Great Lakes] were filled with networking, meeting like-minded people, connecting with my fellow EMERGE cohort participants, and engaging with professionals passionate about marine science and marine robotics. I attended numerous technical talks, tutorials/workshops, and town halls, and the water demonstrations were an amazing hands-on opportunity to see how these systems operate in the field."
Janelle M. Hrycik, Sea-Bird Scientific , is a returning time EMERGE mentor. She stated " Such a fulfilling opportunity to serve as a MTS EMERGE Program mentor again. After connecting with [my EMERGE mentees] at the 2025 Great Lakes OCEANS Conference, I am confident that they’ll make positive impacts to ocean science and technology. "
EMERGE reflects MTS's dedication to supporting future generations of ocean professionals. The next EMERGE opportunity will take place across multiple convenings in 2026. Be sure to become an MTS member so you can apply when applications open in early 2026.
Congratulations to the EMERGE 2025 Participants:
- Jackson Tunheim, EGS Americas
- Genevieve Coblentz-Strong, Oregon State University
- Joe Gradone, Rutgers University
- Em (Emma) McGuiness, San Jose City College
- Emma Havens, Northwestern University
- Adyn McHugh, Northwestern Michigan College
- Madie Bouvier-Brown, Open Ocean Robotics
- Rebecca Cox, Duke University
- Namith Kennedy, Northwestern Michigan College
- Venkata Madhav Tadavarthi, University of Maryland, College Park
- Olayinka Oshikoya , University of Southern Mississippi
- Ara Hakim, Michigan Technological University
- Zane Morgan, Northwestern Michigan College
- Daniel Fullmer , Northwestern Michigan College
- Tyler Inkley, University of Hawaii at Manoa
- Rabi Elabor, Florida A&M University
- Narayan Kumar, University of Delaware
- Oliver Schrock, Northwestern Michigan College
- Yixuan Song, University of Rhode Island
Thank you to the EMERGE 2025 Mentors:
- Cailin Burmaster, The University of Western Australia
- Philip Hoffman, NOAA - Office of Ocean Exploration & Research
- Jerry Miller, Science for Decisions LLC
- Grace Saba, Rutgers University
- Mike Read, XPV OceanSight
- Jacob Sobin, Kongsberg Discovery
- Janelle Hrycik, Sea-Bird Scientific
- Paul Jubinski, Jubinski TEKADE