Tell us a bit about your current job. 

My career is focused on plastic pollution. I am an ocean advocate, public speaker and Co-Founder of eXXpedition. eXXpedition organises all-women sailing trips looking at the impact of, and solutions to, plastic and toxic pollution in our ocean.

What and where did you study after school?

I went to the University of Cambridge to study Architecture.

How did you get from answer 2 to answer 1? 

My journey to tackle plastic pollution began 12 years ago, when I hitch-hiked around the world on a bio-fuelled boat to get to a new architecture job in Australia. It was a job I didn't end up taking. Instead, shocked by finding plastic in some of the most remote places on our planet, I chose to live on a group of Pacific islands for six months to organise a community cleanup. I then travelled to California to learn more from some of the experts in the field of ocean plastic. Since then, my career has been dedicated to raising the profile of ocean plastic pollution, and has taken me all over the world facilitating science at sea, outreach and the implementation of solutions on land. In 2014, I launched eXXpedition – organising all-women sailing voyages with a focus on plastic and toxic pollution in the ocean.

How does your formal education feed into your present career (if at all)? 

My architecture degree was all about problem solving – how to create and communicate a solution to fit a brief. I feel like I’m still using these skills every day!

What things have you learnt outside of formal education that have been helpful to your career? 

I’ve spent the last decade surrounding myself with experts on the issues I care about. From them, and by looking closely at an issue, I’ve learnt more than I could have done at school! I also realised that if you figure out what your key skills are you have a real opportunity to make a difference in areas that you are passionate about. For example, you don’t need to be a scientist to tackle plastic pollution, you can be a filmmaker or artist or product designer or accountant! We need everyone’s skills to tackle our global problems. 

What are the really useful skills for someone in your job to possess? 

Passion – this role is more of a lifestyle choice and it requires a lot of hard work, but very rewarding if plastic pollution is your passion. Organisation skills – there are lots of things that you need to think about when organising an ocean-going research ship to take a group of multidisciplinary women to remote parts of our planet to carry out citizen science.

What does an average day at work look like for you? 

The challenging but also nice thing about my job is that there is not an average day. I might be at sea running an expedition, or travelling to a different country to give a talk to help individuals create change or I might be being interviewed on Sky News. I also have ‘office’ days with our eXXpedition team in London, working on our current and future projects. It is constantly changing depending on what is needed! 

What’s the best thing about your job? 

Meeting the fantastic women who are passionate about creating change around the issue of ocean plastic. I’m really excited about the potential that these individuals have to create change within their own networks, communities and beyond.

What’s your least favourite aspect of your job? 

That there are so many exciting things that we could do to create change but we don’t have enough time or people to be able to do them all, but we are working on it! 

What (concrete) advice would you give to someone seeking a job like yours? 

Take time to work out what you are really good at, focus on that and then work out how you can apply it to what you are passionate about. Remember that all organisations, no matter what they are focused on, need lots of different skillsets. The eXXpedition team includes a former geography teacher, an advertising executive, a sustainability-for-business professional, and an architect (me!).

Find out more about Emily’s work on at www.emilypenn.co.uk.