After my last column in Oceanography in September 2017 (https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2017.305), in search of inspiration, ideas for new articles have flooded in, which, like buses, seem to always arrive in groups. Some from readers (with my thanks), and some from the fathomous depths of my own mind. On a contemporary topic, Alan Mix (TOS president) and Ellen Kappel (my long-suffering editor) suggested looking at how a wide range of undergraduate programs are building a marine science focus into their curricula. I say contemporary, as we have just seen the latest (and possibly best) offering from Sir David Attenborough in his recently aired Blue Planet II. As with many such noteworthy documentary series, the interest in studying for a degree in oceanography or marine biology has consequently seen a measurable boost as young people become inspired by oceanic adventures and the great unknown. But the benefit of programs like Blue Planet is that they also provide an elegant public platform for our science and highlight its importance in twenty-first century society, identifying issues from plastic pollution in the sea to climate change.

Boxall, S. 2018. Are you a marine major or minor? Oceanography 31(1):148–149, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.103.

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