Outback Ocean Enthusiasts, Save the Ocean with Business | Leeds Business School

Business from Leeds 2022 | Full Question

Emma Pearson stands at the Denver Aquarium as fish and rays swim by.

Emma Pearson stands at the Denver Aquarium, which she calls “probably my favorite place in Colorado.”

Emma Pearson is an entrepreneur and a marine scientist with complete determination to protect our oceans.

Emma Pearson (Fin, EBio’22) grew up in inland Colorado and dived into the ocean for the first time on TV. She became obsessed with National Geographic documentaries about the ocean and then became passionate about saving it.

In high school, she started a nonprofit called Sea the Change to educate and inspire Colorado elementary school students about marine conservation.

Since then, Sea the Change has grown thanks to the business principles Pearson learned in Leeds. She recently graduated from CU with a double major in finance and ecology and evolutionary biology, but had no plans to major in business. This is a final decision based on intuition.

She soon realized that her hunch was right: a set of business skills could help her save the ocean. “I think the real solution to protecting the ocean lies at the intersection of business, science and politics. My goal is to promote that intersection,” Pearson said.

Faces of Leeds: Meet Emma Pearson

At Leeds, she became a Leeds Scholar and Leeds Honours student, taking advantage of the experiential opportunities these honours offered. She went to South Africa through her first-year Global Experience program – a trip she calls “life-changing”. There, she worked on a consulting project, using her experience in nonprofits to advise local organizations.

Close-up of Emma Pearson standing at the Denver Aquarium as fish and rays swim by.“It was exciting that they took me seriously as an 18-year-old,” she said. “Not only has it helped me grow as a leader, it has helped me determine the direction I want my career to take.”

With her newfound appreciation for the field of consulting, she joined the Leeds Consulting Group and developed her leadership skills, later winning CU’s Student Leader of the Year Award.

While completing her business course, she was simultaneously pursuing a degree in science. She interned at NOAA for two years, helping to develop an artificial intelligence-powered probe for producing blue whale sounds. Her honors thesis, Comparing Temporal and Seasonal Patterns of Whale Noise Levels, will be published this December in CU’s Honors Journal.

It was during her internship search that her interests converged. When she stumbled upon the Boston Consulting Group, she was impressed by their relationship with the World Wildlife Fund and their conservation work. As an intern there, she networked with the global managing partner in London and then boldly reached out to the CEO to discuss sustainability issues.

“I’ve gained some confidence from my experience at Leeds – the most important thing I’ve learned in pursuing your career is to get them to say no, don’t say no to yourself,” Pearson said.

Emma Pearson stands at the Denver Aquarium as fish and rays swim by.

Emma Pearson’s work as the founder of Sea the Change has enabled her to make an impact with the Boston Consulting Group, which owns climate practices and is committed to sustainability and conservation.

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