Exploring ocean identity with outreach, education, and engagement experts: concept dimensions and practical applications

The global ocean is an invaluable resource, upon which many communities rely, yet little is understood about the complexity of human-ocean relationships, and why we maintain the relationships with the ocean that we do. Ocean identity (OI) is an emerging construct which can be used to understand these relationships and can serve as a mechanism for improved human–ocean interactions. In order to explore OI, three focus groups were held with ocean outreach, engagement, and education experts (n = 12×) from several organizations in Connecticut, USA. The 40–60 min online focus groups were balanced between two areas of inquiry. © 2026 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.