About Megan Cook

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Explorer Megan Cook is proudly part of a team investigating the deep and dark 95% of the ocean which remains uncharacterized. Megan leads Ocean Exploration Trust’s suite of at-sea and onshore education and outreach programs to connect audiences to the excitement of discovery, the deep ocean, and the role models who work aboard the E/V Nautilus. She mentors emerging talent in STEM fields, innovates interactive connections from ship-to-shore, and inspires the global next generation of young explorers. With this team, Megan has led the science communication department at-sea on over 25 deep-sea expeditions and supported over 80 research cruises. Her communication talent grows from a broad scientific and technical operations expertise. 

As an environmental manager, Megan is motivated by the captivating challenge between what is left to be understood about Earth and the urgency of powerful decision processes needed to define the future. Her interests include offshore energy development and the environmental management of the emerging deep seabed minng industry - which she studied for her Masters reearch.  She loves helping people fall into fascination with our planet and using technology to share environmental stories.

Megan is also a scuba diver with over 500 hours spent underwater. A freediving and  scuba diving instructor, Megan is also trained as a cave diver,  closed-circuit rebreather diver, smallboat coxswain, and emergency dive accident manegement trainer.  

Before joining her current team, Megan's international career has taken her from the sunlit tropical reefs to the iceberg scours of Antarctica bridging scientific research, conservation education, and media. She earned a Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry from Oregon State University. She studied tropical ecology at James Cook University in Australia and oceanography with Sea Education Association. In parallel with her career, Megan is now also a graduate student pursuing a Master of Environmental Management degree within the Duke Environmental Leadership program at Duke University. She is a rookie chef, an enthusiastic reader, and passionate about taking on new learning challenges, recently constructing eight houses in a rural community.