Elise Hu

Given the way you found inspiration through going to museums and then your parents introducing you to things outside of the traditional academic environment, what advice would you give to people who are listening who might, like you, struggle in academic environments but have yet to kind of find their thing?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's good advice.

It also strikes me that failure is an important learning experience, and it certainly was for you.

What led you out into the ocean in the first place?

Wow.

Turning to the ocean explorer, the ship that you were on, you said that her purpose was not just for research, but also for storytelling.

And when you were talking about the story of seeing the whale footage in your TED Talk, you said that the footage was not just data.

It was an experience of life.

How do you think storytelling helps people connect with science?

And why do you think moments like that resonate so strongly with people who watch them?

Find it very moving, right.

You mentioned we're all explorers.

Talk to me a little bit about democratizing exploration, because even on this very advanced research vessel, y'all relied on a DIY whale tag.

So what do you think that these more homemade tools, why do you think they're still so important in scientific discovery?

Let's jump back to the day of discovery that you speak of in your talk, and we could all hear how exciting it was.

What was going through your mind the moment that you first saw the footage of the sperm whales communicating and swimming together?

And you ended your talk with a powerful message about technology.

So I wanted to ask you, when it comes to these fast advancing new technologies, and I know this is a broad question because it encompasses a lot, what scares you the most about the advancements right now in our tech tools and what excites you?

Yeah, yeah.