The New England Aquarium has long been a source of research on marine animals and ocean conservation. With its new BalanceBlue Lab, the aquarium aims to take that foundation of knowledge and support innovation in areas like fishing, farming, offshore wind and coastal resiliency.
At the end of March, the aquarium announced that Emiley Zalesky Lockhart would serve as the inaugural head of the BalanceBlue Lab. Her title is associate vice president of ocean sustainability, technology and innovation.
Prior to joining the aquarium, Lockhart was deputy general counsel and secretary at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Before she took the plunge into ocean-focused work, she was a general counsel and policy director in the Massachusetts State Senate, VP and general counsel of the Boston 2024 initiative to host the Olympics, development and outreach director for Discovering Justice and assistant attorney general for Massachusetts.
Lockhart said the BalanceBlue Lab’s work will include supporting innovation in startups, but also corporate and industry technical advising.
Those involved in the bluetech economy may already be familiar with BlueSwell, an initiative that will be part of the BalanceBlue Lab. BlueSwell is a bluetech incubator for startups that address ocean conservation issues created by the aquarium and SeaAhead. BlueSwell launched in 2020 and is accepting applications to join its fourth cohort.
Lockhart recently sat down with BostInno to talk about her journey to the aquarium, how the BalanceBlue Lab plans to support startups and corporations and initial areas of focus in the blue economy.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Your previous work experience isn’t isolated to roles in the blue economy. How do you think these previous experiences will help you lead the BalanceBlue Lab?
The career that I’ve had has been varied. But it has been a wonderful way to develop expertise in law and policy and business and also nonprofits, and how to really collaborate effectively with different stakeholders, government, NGOs, businesses, philanthropy, others, so that has all sort of come together to bring me to this point.
After serving in government and nonprofit roles, why did you make the transition to Woods Hole and then the aquarium?
Like many people, as a young girl I was convinced I’d become a marine biologist. I think I first decided I wanted to be a marine biologist while visiting the aquarium in the early 80s. Being able to blend one’s personal passion with a profession is really exciting. And I first got to do that at Woods Hole Oceanographic, and then I became sort of equally enthralled with the blue economy and seeing so much potential in Massachusetts, in the region, for what we could to bring and develop the blue economy further.
The aquarium opened its doors in 1969 and its scientists have decades of scientific research under their belts. How do you go about ensuring that research supports the blue economy?
I think the idea is leveraging that science and being technical experts and helping companies, whether startups or large organizations, figure out how to create solutions in a more sustainable and responsible manner.
The aquarium is really, I think, on the cutting edge here. That partnership that the aquarium launched with SeaAhead to create BlueSwell, which is a joint effort, has been really successful so far and I think we’re thinking about doubling down on that, doing more in that space.
One of my colleagues and mentors recently said something that I loved. He said, “Unexpected collaboration yields exponential results.” And I think that’s what we’re driving at with BalanceBlue. Really thinking about collaborating. Yes, certainly with people you would expect, but also with the unexpected players because we really want to support and develop the blue economy in a way that is sustainable and responsible.
What does the year ahead look like for you? What are your initial priorities for BalanceBlue?
My plan is to focus on a few wins where we can really show the impact that collaborating with external groups, startups or bigger corporates and government, can have. I think the spaces that we’re looking at in particular are aquaculture, fisheries and offshore wind, but stay tuned. I think there’s a lot going on there.
And the other side that we’ll be looking to move the needle on this year is on the policy end. The aquarium recently put forth a policy package with some incredible supporters on both the House and Senate sides in Massachusetts, and we’ll be working with our partners in the legislature to think about how we can move some of those initiatives forward.
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