Story | 11 September 2026
Space science comes to Plymouth for Protecting Our Planet Day
Classrooms across the UK will be watching Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) this November, as it hosts Protecting Our Planet Day for the first time. The online event will showcase careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) that use satellite data to protect our planet.
On Thursday 19 November, thousands of students and educators across the UK will be able to join a day of live-streamed talks, activities and interactive sessions exploring how space agencies, satellites and scientists work to protect our planet.
Organised by ESERO-UK at STEM Learning, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and UK Space Agency, Protecting Our Planet Day (POP) brings the world of space science into classrooms, connecting young people with the science, technology and careers helping us tackle some of the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet.
Teachers and educators can pop in and out of sessions throughout the day, with recommendations available for both primary and secondary school groups.
More than 150,000 people joined POP25 last November, for a programme featuring live link-ups with experts who showcase how they monitor, model, predict and provide solutions to tackle climate change and protect biodiversity across the globe.
The event aims to raise awareness of the many different careers that can help protect our planet, while inspiring young people to consider a future in STEM.
This year, POP26 is being live streamed from Plymouth Marine Laboratory.
Dr Dan Clewley, Lead Research Software Engineer at PML, and who has supported the laboratory’s involvement in previous years of POP, said:
“Satellites provide a fantastic source of data to monitor the ocean but it takes people with a whole range of skills to turn this into useful information. Being involved in POP has allowed us to highlight how we use satellites and some of the different career options available. Hosting at PML this year gives us an opportunity to showcase more of the exciting work we’re doing in Plymouth and the people who do it.”
Scientists at PML use satellite data to investigate everything from climate change and ocean warming, to water quality, pollution and even detecting waterborne diseases.
Previously, for POP23, Dr Clewley showcased how combining satellites and AI can help us detect and monitor marine plastics from space.
Watch now: POP23 – Dr Clewley on detecting marine plastics using satellites
In addition to hosting the live streamed event at the laboratory, this year, PML colleagues will be teaming up with Blue Planet III Producers in the ‘Protecting the Ocean’ session.
The session, which is recommended for secondary schools, will see PML’s Dr Victor Martinez Vicente, Dr Gemma Kulk and Bryony Squires showing how the ocean is our greatest ally in the fight against climate change: by producing 50% of the oxygen here on Earth, and at the same time, absorbing harmful carbon dioxide and locking it away.
Their session will focus on the role the ocean plays in the carbon cycle, and how they are monitoring this using satellites through European Space Agency (ESA) projects.
Dr Clewley continued:
“In the ocean session this year we’ll be sharing some of the research we’re conducting with ESA and highlighting how we go from collecting water samples out on PML’s research vessel to producing maps from massive global satellite datasets.”
Tom Lyons, ESERO-UK Manager at STEM Learning, said:
“This year we have an Ocean theme, so PML is the perfect place for us to host POP26. We have some really important research going on in the UK, involving the use of satellite data, in addition to the manufacture and testing of satellites and space instrumentation. We want to highlight the ways that young people can get involved and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”
Full list of PML activities for ESERO UK POP26:
08.50 – 9.05 – Welcome to POP26: With our Director of Science, Professor Tim Smyth, welcoming classrooms to the laboratory. Don’t miss it – it sets you up for the day! Find out more >>
9.55 – 10.35 – Protecting the Ocean: With PML’s Dr Victor Martinez Vicente, Dr Gemma Kulk and Bryony Squires showing how the ocean is our greatest ally in the fight against climate change: by producing 50% of the oxygen here on Earth, and at the same time, absorbing harmful carbon dioxide and locking it away. Their session will focus on the role the ocean plays in the carbon cycle, and how they are monitoring this using satellites through European Space Agency (ESA) projects. Find out more >>
13.00 – 13:30: Protecting Our Planet with Technology: This is one of many afternoon careers sessions where panellists will share their backstories in studying STEM subjects to their careers working to protect the planet. PML’s Ross Sanders will pop into classrooms to talk about how his background in technology led to him working on marine robots. Find out more >>
14.20 – 14.55 – Protecting the Planet with Maths: This is another afternoon careers sessions where panellists will share their backstories in studying STEM subjects to their careers working to protect the planet. PML’s Dr Rebecca Millington explains how with a background in mathematics, her work now focuses on building models to predict what our future climate might look like – helping humans to make better decisions in the present. Find out more >>
PML’s Director of Science, Professor Tim Smyth, said:
“Protecting Our Planet Day is a fantastic opportunity to show young people the breadth of careers available to them that can really make a difference.”
“We’re very proud to host POP at the laboratory, and we’re excited to give students the chance to see science in action and meet some of the people using STEM to tackle the biggest questions facing our planet.”
“We hope the event will inspire young people to look up to space, look out across the ocean, and consider how they could help protect our planet in the future.”
ESERO UK’s Protecting Our Planet Day takes place on Thursday 19 November 2026.
