How do you calculate the value of the ocean?
The Center for the Blue Economy (CBE) tackles this question from endless angles, giving graduate students a chance to build their skills as they help advocate for the essential role of the ocean in addressing climate change and other global challenges.
Melissa Ashley, an environmental policy and management student graduating in spring 2025, collaborated on one such innovative project, a recently launched website tracking white sharks and pinnipeds, or seals, in Monterey Bay. Since November 2023, Ashley has served as a CBE graduate research assistant on the communications and outreach team.
“The CBE was the main reason I wanted to attend Middlebury Institute. I researched influential leaders in the oceans space and I kept coming across MIIS,” Ashley said. “It’s a unique opportunity to work while taking courses, and I wanted to make the most of that by gaining as much practical experience outside the classroom as possible.”
The Center for the Blue Economy, launched in 2011, promotes “economic and policy analysis that supports the development of a robust and equitable blue economy for the 21st century.” According to the World Bank, a “blue economy” refers to “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.”
This research center employs an average of three to five graduate research assistants each semester who work with marine ecosystem experts to advance understanding of the oceans.
Jason Scorse, program chair of the environmental policy and management program and CBE director, shared that the CBE is also working on new Arctic Ocean policy initiatives and collaborations, convening Indigenous voices in blue economy discussions. The CBE also helps manage the National Ocean Economics Program. They also hold an annual speaker series, bringing thought leaders of the blue economy to the Institute campus.
Students are eligible for paid summer fellowships.
The CBE was the main reason I wanted to attend Middlebury Institute. I wanted to make the most of [grad school] by gaining as much practical experience outside the classroom as possible.
As a summer fellow, Ashley shifted her focus from seals and sharks to the innovative and emerging field of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). Marine carbon dioxide removal is the process of using ocean-based solutions to remove carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. Last summer, Ashley helped map the political landscape of mCDR, analyzing potential social and economic impacts of these solutions on coastal communities and contributing to an evolving mCDR strategy.
Ashley then leveraged that experience to get selected as a California Sea Grant Fellow with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This February, she is starting to develop a study on the economic, social, and cultural values of healthy kelp forests.
“Throughout the Sea Grant selection process, I was consistently able to point to both my work and experience as a summer fellow and as a graduate research assistant,” Ashley said.
When she arrived at Middlebury Institute nearly two years ago, Ashley knew what she wanted to learn. But she also gained clarity on her career goals. Her sweet spot? Tapping into her passion for the ocean to find a role that blends natural and social sciences rather than working in a lab.
“The interdisciplinary nexus of ocean science and policy [at CBE] gives students a competitive edge,” Ashley said. “Climate work is inherently interdisciplinary, and as the blue economy expands, the need for professionals who can navigate both natural and social sciences will only grow.”
Master of Arts in Environmental Policy and Management
Center for the Blue Economy
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