Rising Tide: The Ocean Podcast

Rising Tide: The Ocean Podcast


Balancing Wonder and Warning: Dr. Ben Halpern on the Future of Our Oceans

October 06, 2025

In the latest episode of ‘Rising Tide, the Ocean Podcast,’ David and Natasha speak with Dr. Ben Halpern. Along with being a past Peter Benchley Ocean Award winner, Ben serves as Director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, a research center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is also a professor of marine biology and conservation science. Among his numerous honors and research papers, he’s contributed to a new report published in Science magazine warning that the world’s ecosystems could be permanently altered – meaning degraded - by mid-century if the present trend in greenhouse gas pollution, industrial overfishing, and coastal development continues unabated. Ben also offers some ideas on how each of us can act in ways that can help reverse that trend. So, give a listen, learn a bit, and visit the ocean when you can.  


** Links & Resources **


Cumulative impacts to global marine ecosystems projected to more than double by mid-century.


Blue Frontier — Building the solution-based citizen movement needed to protect our ocean, coasts and communities, both human and wild.


Blue Frontier on Substack


Inland Ocean Coalition — Building land-to-sea stewardship - the inland voice for ocean protection


Fluid Studios — Thinking radically different about the collective good, our planet, & the future.