Earth Day 2020 Storytelling Series - Lauren Goes Rogue with Sharks in South Africa

And a very Happy 50th Earth Day to you! If you’re like me, you might be missing that wild and uninhibited feeling of being in your favorite national/state/local park or other wild space that you love right now (thanks to the Rona-coaster). Maybe you’re instead focused on enjoying the view out your window, looking through posts from your old travel blog, or simply relishing the smell of spring blossoms on your evening walk around the block.

There are plenty of ways to celebrate Earth Day, even though it’s looking a little different for most of us this year. Maybe you watch one of your favorite environmental documentaries, or pick up a new book on climate change, or teach your little cousin about farmer’s markets over FaceTime (whatever floats your eco-boat). My dad and I are planning on a little walk later to pick up litter. Now, I obviously think that every day is Earth Day, or I wouldn’t write what I write, but there is something special about an actual date dedicated to our planet. For 24 hours, Earth finally gets our full undivided attention.

Another way that I’m celebrating this most momentous day, and also coping with the Rona-coaster* of emotions we’re all dealing with right now, is by sharing meaningful stories. With little in the way of new travel adventures in the near future, I’ve been inspired to dig back into the Lauren archives and share some of my own environmental experiences from the last decade of my life. My hope is that they inspire you, make you laugh, make you think, or at the very least, provide you with some insight into an idea you maybe hadn’t considered before.

So without further ado, LET’S START WITH SHARKS!

we all love a good shark story, don’t we?

About seven years ago, right after my junior year of college, I took a giant leap of crazy faith and flew halfway across the world to take part in an internship with Marine Dynamics and the Dyer Island Conservation Trust. This is a cage-diving and marine conservation organization that is focused on creating a sustainable eco-tourism business and performing relevant research on the many great white sharks that are found in the area.

This whole experience scared the sh** out of me. It was my first solo travel experience, as well as the trip that gave birth to the magical wanderlust that has “plagued” me since. At the time of departure, I was terrified of sharks and unsure why I was doing something so random and unrelated to my degree. All I knew was that I loved the ocean and I wanted to travel somewhere new. 

Little did I know that this whole experience would be instrumental in guiding the big decisions I had coming my way following graduation. This one inkling to try something new led me down a completely divergent path. So what happened when a career-uncertain, passionate-about-everything-but-nothing-in-particular chemical engineering undergrad hopped across the Atlantic and then the equator?

Copious amounts of homesickness and eye-opening magic. That’s what happened.

I spent a large portion of the summer filming an amateur documentary and snapping hundreds of photos as part of the terms of the grant I had received from the University of Notre Dame. I had assistance in the editing stages and was busy working with my friend Pat on it throughout the fall and winter of my senior year of college. It was quite unlike anything I was doing in my coursework, but I loved the variety and the networking opportunities it brought to me.

And of course, Lauren fell in (love with) the ocean. Blah, blah, blah. We all know that one. But really, this was the moment that happened.

what is shark research in south Africa like?

Below you’ll find a quick video summary of what a day on the cage-diving vessel Slashfin was like, and you’ll also catch a few glimpses of the mythical Carcharodon carcharias - the great white shark. Remember how I told you that this experience scared the sh** out of me? As I quickly discovered, my one great fear of death by wild animal attack was rooted in a misunderstanding and a lack of knowledge about the species in question. I remedied this with a summer spent abroad getting to know both these sharks and the researchers who were passionate about saving them. I’ll never forget it.

My experiences working on a cage-diving boat in Gansbaai, South Africa, the great white shark capital of the world.

how i built my own interdisciplinary research experience

Below, you’ll get an idea of my inspiration for the project and the many people who helped me along the way. Notre Dame is all about collaboration and stretching the boundaries of our own minds, and I’ll admit, plenty of personal growth occurred as a result of this project.

With the help of the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts and the College of Science, engineering major Lauren Fritz designed her own research exper...

“Of Monsters and myths”

And if you want to dive a little bit deeper, you can watch the amateur documentary I filmed myself and produced with my friend Pat, with plentiful assistance and funding from ND’s College of Science (hey Bill!); the Career Center; the Film, Television, and Theater department; and the ND Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts.

Notre Dame graduate Lauren Fritz (Chemical Engineering '14) decided to do something a little more unique than a typical summer internship between her junior and senior year, and with the support of the College of Science, the ND Career Center, and the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts (ISLA), she spent two months documenting great white shark conservation and the effects of cage-diving in Gansbaai, South Africa.

My biggest takeaway from this experience was an extremely heightened sense of global interconnectedness. Apart from the incredible wildlife I observed, I was able to meet and interact with a variety of lovely people from all over the globe. And on this 50th Earth Day, when we’re all a little bit isolated and confused, I reflect back on that first real feeling of interconnectedness and realize it is now manifesting itself stronger than ever.

And hey, more stories to come! I encourage you to share your stories in the comments below, if you have your own blog or just want to chat. SHARE YOUR STORY. I’ll listen! And thank you for everything you’re doing for our planet and for yourself. Remember, taking care of yourself is instrumental in putting yourself in the best position to take care of the planet.

All of my love to you fellow Earth beings,

Lauren

*The Rona-coaster refers to the emotional rollercoaster many of us are riding due to the societal changes and stress levels induced by the novel COVID-19. I can’t coin the term, I heard about it on the podcast Girls Gotta Eat!

Keep that sweet, sweet inspiration flowing: