What to Look for in an Ocean Communications Consultant
Ocean communications is a specialist field. Not in the way that brain surgery is a speciality – you don't need a decade of training to write clearly about the sea. But the ocean world has its own science, its own sectors, its own policy landscape, its own culture, its own community, and its own particular way of doing things. Someone who doesn't understand that will struggle to communicate effectively within it, no matter how good they are at communication generally.
If you're looking to hire an ocean communications consultant for a research project, an NGO, an international programme, or a blue economy organisation, here’s what to look for.
Subject matter understanding matters more than you think
There's a meaningful difference between a communicator who has learned about the ocean and one who has worked in it. Both can write a blog post about marine protected areas. But the deeper the subject matter understanding, the less time you spend briefing, the less risk of something landing wrong, and the more likely the work will resonate with your audience.
Getting the science wrong, even subtly, can damage trust. In a field where credibility matters and the community is relatively small, a miscommunication doesn't just affect one piece of content. It can reflect on the project, the institution, and the people behind the research. The more technically complex or politically sensitive your work, the more this matters.
This doesn't mean your consultant needs a PhD in marine science. But it does mean it's worth understanding how familiar they are with the field – with the science, the technology, the policy processes, the major initiatives and institutions, the language, and the debates that matter to your audience. The more they already know, the faster they'll get up to speed and the more confident you can be in what they produce.
What to ask:
What ocean science or policy topics have you worked on previously?
Can you give an example of a time you had to get to grips with complex marine science or technology quickly?
Who in the ocean world do you follow, read, or engage with regularly?
The answers will tell you quickly whether you're talking to someone who is genuinely embedded in the space or someone who is pitching for ocean work because they think it sounds interesting.
Look for strategic thinking, not just content production
Anyone can write an article. Plenty of people can write a good one. What's harder (and what matters more for most ocean organisations and research projects) is understanding what communication is actually trying to achieve and building the work around that.
A consultant who leads with deliverables, like "we'll do six blog posts, a newsletter, and social media twice a week," before understanding your goals, your audiences, and what you're trying to change, is a consultant who is going to produce content that ticks boxes without necessarily moving anything forward. This is more common than it should be.
What strategic thinking looks like in practice:
They ask about your goals before they talk about outputs
They want to understand your audiences specifically, not just generally
They push back if your brief doesn't make sense or your expectations aren't realistic
They can explain not just what they'll produce but why it will work for your particular situation
They think about timing – when communication will have the most impact relative to your research or policy cycle
Practical questions to ask before you hire
Beyond the conversation, here are six questions worth asking any ocean communications consultant before you commit.
1. Can you show me examples of work in a similar context? Not just ocean work generally, but work that resembles your project in terms of audience, complexity, or type of output. A consultant who has written public engagement content for a conservation NGO may not be the right fit for translating technical ocean observation data for a policy audience, even if both are ocean-related.
2. How do you approach science you don't fully understand yet? Just like researchers, even the most experienced ocean communicator won't know every area of marine science. What matters is how they handle unfamiliar territory. Do they ask good questions, seek out the right experts, flag uncertainty, and take the time to get it right? Or do they wing it and hope nobody notices?
3. What's your capacity, and how do you handle larger projects? A solo consultant may be exactly what you need. They are often focused, responsive, and invested. But if your project has significant communication demands, it's worth understanding how they manage capacity. Do they work with trusted subcontractors? Do they have a clear process for delivering at scale without quality dropping?
4. How do you handle sensitive or contested science? Ocean science is not always straightforward. Fisheries, marine protected areas, deep sea mining, climate impacts – these are areas where the science is complex, the politics are real, and the stakes are high. A good ocean communications consultant should be able to discuss how they navigate scientific uncertainty, contested findings, and sensitive topics without either overstating the science or shying away from it.
5. How do you handle sensitive topics or communities involved in the research? It's not just the science that can be sensitive; sometimes it's the people involved in or affected by the research. Topics like mental health, vulnerable communities, or contested livelihoods require careful attention to language, framing, and whose voices are centred. A good consultant should be able to talk through how they approach this and ideally give a concrete example.
6. How do you report on your work and keep clients informed? Communication work can feel invisible if there's no clear process for keeping you updated. How often will you hear from them? What does a progress update look like? How do they handle it if something isn't working as planned? A consultant who can answer this clearly is one who takes the client relationship seriously
A note on what this looks like in practice
Ocean Oculus was built specifically to address this gap – subject matter expertise combined with professional communication support. I'm Dr Sam Andrews, a marine scientist and science communicator with over a decade working across ocean research, policy, and practice. If you'd like to explore whether Ocean Oculus might be the right fit, explore the services page or get in touch.
