Waterlust Trivia at Florida Tech
Here at Florida Tech, our chapter of SWMS participated in three rounds of marine science trivia nights as a partnership with the brand “Waterlust”. Waterlust is a clothing brand dedicated to sustainability and ocean conservation, and is made up of both apparel experts and marine scientists. Waterlust sent us three trivia slideshows, each containing twenty-five trivia questions. All of the questions were about marine sciences, and broken down into five subcategories; marine biology, miscellaneous ocean science, ocean physics, marine policy, and questions about the company itself. The questions were projected onto a screen and students attending the event were to write their answers down. After all the questions were asked, we went back through the slideshow and showed the correct answers to the questions. Students were to tally up their answers to determine their total points. Each student on the winning team received a fifty dollar gift certificate to Waterlust. Waterlust keeps a leaderboard each year for each participating institution. Last year Florida Tech placed 7th, and we are still awaiting results for this year.
The questions in each round of trivia were definitely more on the difficult side. Many of our students were unsure of the answers to a lot of the questions asked. This gave the opportunity to learn more about the fields of marine science and use critical thinking skills to try to make educated guesses. Some of the questions included; “Which mollusk has a distinct W shaped pupil?” with the answer being “cuttlefish”, “What is the term for a standing wave oscillating in a body of water?” with the answer being “seiche”, and “When was the last time atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were as high as they are today?” with the answer being “three million years ago”. Having trivia nights where players are encouraged to group up into teams also encourages teamwork and collaborative thinking amongst our students, which are incredibly necessary skills within the sciences. Within our school’s chapter of SWMS, we put an aim on cultivating student relationships, and trivia nights are a fun bonding opportunity for our members.
We are very lucky to have had this partnership with Waterlust, and we aim to continue to partner with them. Waterlust’s values as a brand, including their dedication to sustainability and conservation of marine environments, align with what we as a club want to advocate for. Much of Waterlust’s apparel mimics the patterns of various marine animals, such as whale sharks and lionfish. A portion of the sales from these clothes go to conservation or research efforts towards whichever animal the clothes are printed to look like. Waterlust also partners with a variety of marine labs and organizations dedicated to conservation and research, such as Florida State University and Mote Marine Labs. Showcasing charitable brands such as Waterlust to our students helps reinforce our values of supporting research and sustainability and gives them an opportunity to support these causes.
As the recently appointed President of Florida Tech’s SWMS chapter, hosting these trivia nights has given me the invaluable experience of leading and planning events. As a chapter President my goal is to plan and create events that bring together marine science students and encourage communication and advocacy for marine life. Marine science trivia nights are a great example of an event that does this, and I am so happy to have partnered with Waterlust to do this. I encourage all reading this to check out their website https://waterlust.com/.
