On todays episode of Black Nerds Matter, were honored to sit down with Dr. Kailani Acosta. She is a biological oceanographer, science communicator, and a powerful voice for equity in STEM.

Kailani currently serves as the Science Program Associate at OceanX, helping to drive innovative ocean exploration and research. She earned her Ph.D. in 2024 from Columbia University, where she studied nutrient dynamics and phytoplankton communities in the Gulf of Mexico, an area with deep environmental and cultural significance. But Kailanis work doesnt stop at the science.

Shes the founder of Columbias Seminar Diversity Initiative, co-author of published best practices for building DEI task forces, and the creative force behind Bridging the Gulf, a science-art exhibit connecting 100-million-year-old plankton, Black Belt soil, and Southern cultural identity. As an Early Career Liaison for the UN Ocean Decade, shes helping shape the next era of global ocean sustainability.

In this conversation, we explore how science and storytelling intersect, how DEI work can reshape institutions, and how shes making waves from the lab to the ocean floor to the art gallery.

And we definitely didn't ask her what it was like having a bunch of college kids on her boat this summer....