Nathan Jack Robinson is a

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

and

science communicator Science communication is the practice of informing, educating, raising awareness of science-related topics, and increasing the sense of wonder about scientific discoveries and arguments. Science communicators and audiences are ambiguously def ...

from the United Kingdom. During his career, Robinson has been at the center of several

viral videos A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...

. These have included videos of him removing a plastic

drinking straw A drinking straw is a utensil that is intended to carry the contents of a beverage to one's mouth. Straws are commonly made from plastics but environmental concerns and new regulation have led to rise in reusable and biodegradable straws. These ...

from the nostril of a

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

as well as a plastic fork from the nostril of a different sea turtle, and a video recorded by him and

Edith Widder Edith Anne "Edie" Widder Smith (born 1951) is an American oceanographer, marine biologist, author and the Co-founder, CEO and Senior Scientist at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association. Books * The Bioluminescence Coloring Book Below ...

of a live

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Trace ...

. This video is the first-time that a live giant squid has been recorded in US waters and is the second time this species has ever been caught alive on film.

Early life and education

Robinson grew up in the United Kingdom. He earned a Masters of

Marine Biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

in 2009, receiving the awarded for the highest achieving MSc student of his graduating class. Nathan's MSc focused on learning how shallow-water marine species might adapt to deeper habitats. While completing his MSc program, he also began volunteering with the

ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece {{third-party, date=March 2014 ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece was founded in 1983. It aims to protect sea turtles and their habitats in Greece through research, public awareness campaigns, restoring habitats, and through its ...

. He followed his interest in sea turtle conservation into a

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

. program at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

under the mentor-ship of Frank V. Paladino. His Ph.D. thesis focused on understanding the factors driving the migratory behavior of sea turtles.

Research and impact

In 2015, Robinson was awarded a

postdoctoral fellowship A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

through

Purdue University Fort Wayne Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW) is a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. A campus of Purdue University, Purdue Fort Wayne was founded on July 1, 2018, when its predecessor university, Indiana University–Purdue University ...

to manage the research activities of the Leatherback Trust in Costa Rica. During this fellowship, Robinson joined a

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

research expedition collecting data in northwest Costa Rica to sample olive ridley sea turtles for

epibiont An epibiont (from the Ancient Greek meaning "living on top of") is an organism that lives on the surface of another living organism, called the basibiont ("living underneath"). The interaction between the two organisms is called epibiosis. An epi ...

s. While Robinson was examining a turtle for epibionts, he discovered something in a turtle's nostril. Upon removing the foreign object, it was revealed to be a plastic drinking straw. Expedition leader Christine Figgener recorded this video, which subsequently went viral and has inspired several anti-plastic straw campaigns worldwide. Two months after removing the straw, Robinson was again studying olive ridley turtles on Playa Ostional, Costa Rica and had a similar encounter. However, this time the object being removed was a plastic fork. This video, recorded by Sean Williamson, also went viral and prompted several other campaigns against

single-use plastic A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filte ...

s. Following the impact of these two videos, Robinson began to focus his research activities on using novel visual technologies to generate engaging footage for the purposes of scientific discovery and environmental outreach. This has included projects using drones, animal-borne cameras, and deep-sea cameras. In 2019, Nathan was working alongside

in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

where they were able to film a live

. This video was the first-time that a live giant squid has been recorded in US waters, is the second time this species has ever been caught alive on film. In 2022, Nathan was invited to present at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...

to give a talk entitled "Going Viral: An Environmental Activist's Story".

Career

Between 2015 and 1017, Nathan was Director of the Leatherback Trust in Costa Rica and a postdoctoral fellow at

. Between 2017 and 2019, Nathan was Director of the

Cape Eleuthera Institute A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. The ...

in The Bahamas. Since 2019, Nathan has worked for

L'Oceanogràfic L'Oceanogràfic (; es, El Oceanográfico , "The Oceanographic") is an oceanarium situated on the dry Turia River bed to the southeast of the city center of Valencia, Spain, where different marine habitats are represented. It was designed by the ...

and the Institut de Ciències del Mar, Barcelona.

Publications

Nathan is the author of several

scientific publications : ''For a broader class of literature, see Academic publishing.'' Scientific literature comprises scholarly publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences. Within an academic field, scient ...

conference papers A conference is a meeting of two or more Expert, experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the ...

, and reports

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Nathan J. Living people British marine biologists 21st-century British biologists British expatriates in the United States Alumni of the University of Southampton Purdue University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)