Ocean Discovery Institute

San Diego County's economy is booming. Life sciences, maritime, and sports and active lifestyle industries are all economic players in that success. But do residents, namely students of color and low-income communities, have the opportunities to get the education needed to compete in those fields?

Enter Ocean Discovery Institute. Founded in 1999 to help fill in gaps in science education, the non-profit sees about 6,000 students participate in their free programs each year. As its name implies, the coastal ecosystem is the hands-on training ground.

And with the California Coastal Trail being built, the goals of organizations like Ocean Discovery Institute will be even more enhanced. "The more opportunities you have along the coast," says Shara Fisler, the Institute's executive director, in the above video, "the more that kids and families from all over, in every kind of community, can actually access, connect to the ocean -- learn about it, love it, and protect it."