The Ocean Doctor - Educating, Leading, Collaborating

Before leaving the office the other night, John Creason (Smartsheet CTO) and I pondered whether Smartsheet was in some way being leveraged by the people and organizations responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  We hoped so.  Part of what drives each of us at the firm is knowing that Smartsheet is used to manage programs that impact people's lives and the environment. 

The very next morning, I saw an unfamiliar domain - 1planet1ocean.org - flash across our new subscriber ticker.  After clicking through to the site, I watched an MSNBC video clip of Dr. David Guggenheim (the "Ocean Doctor", pictured left) share his perspective on the spill.  While we follow the Gulf news from afar in Seattle, one of our newest customers was fully engaged. Very cool!

David was kind enough to share a bit more information about his organization and the role Smartsheet is playing in enabling The Ocean Foundation to better collaborate and manage the 1 Planet 1 Ocean project.

"1planet1ocean’s focus in the Gulf is in three primary areas:

• Cuba: Some of the most healthy marine ecosystems in the Caribbean, including coral reefs, are found in Cuba, but now at risk as the massive oil spill moves closer. We are working with our Cuban colleagues to help them best prepare for the oil that virtually all models predict will spread along Cuba’s northern coast. Cuba Could be Impacted by Gulf Oil Spill
• Rebuilding the Gulf Fishing Industry: With more than one third of federal Gulf waters already off limits to fishing due to the BP Deepwater Horizon spill, the future of the Gulf’s fishing industry and economy is uncertain, both short-term and long-term. We are organizing a workshop to explore how to rebuild the fishing industry on land by investing in “next-generation” sustainable land-based, closed-containment recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) could keep the Gulf region in the seafood business profitably, while creating green jobs and reducing fishing pressure on wild stocks. Rebuilding the Gulf’s Shattered Fishing Industry – On Land
• Educating the Public: We are working [...] to help keep the public informed on this complex issue and separate fact from fiction. I am also traveling to all 50 states and U.S. territories educating school kids about the oceans and inviting their input on the Gulf spill (4th graders have proposed some creative solutions)! Finally, in collaboration with a Chicago-based radio network, we will be launching a new radio program later this month, entitled, “The Ocean Doctor,” and the Gulf oil spill is and will likely remain a major theme of this oceans-focused weekly 1-hour show.  The 50-States Expedition

Why Smartsheet?

As you can imagine, there are other projects focused on the Gulf of Mexico as well. Given the foundation's unique structure, we are spread out across the world, many of us in constant motion, so online collaboration is essential. I have evaluated countless online collaboration tools, but Smartsheet really stood out from the rest in its power, flexibility, and ease of use and it was immediately embraced by my colleagues. Currently, we are using Smartsheet to coordinate our fundraising efforts – something especially important now given that the enormous amount of effort and expense we are expending on the Gulf spill was not planned for in our budgets. Earlier this week I was able to get one of our interns up and running on Smartsheet with virtually no training – because it uses a spreadsheet model, it was just intuitive to her how it worked."

Thanks David for your comments and the work that you and The Ocean Foundation are doing. We look forward to supporting you in your work.

-Mark