Grace Calvert Young
An avid sailor, diver and National Geographic Explorer, Grace is passionate about developing technologies to help better understand, explore and manage the ocean. She earned her BSc in Mechanical & Ocean Engineering from MIT where she won the Wallace Prize as MIT’s top undergraduate in Ocean Engineering, the Keil Award for excellence in Ocean Engineering research, and the Wiesner Institute Award for advancing art and technology. After completing her PhD at the University of Oxford as a Marshal Scholar, she joined X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory to develop technologies for ocean restoration and sustainability. Grace is the chief scientist for the Pisces VI deep sea research submarine. In 2019 she filmed the National Geographic documentary “The Secret of the Ocean”, where she explores connections between 300 million year old coral fossils and modern day reefs. She has developed innovative technologies for MIT, CERN, and NASA. She also helped design, build, and test submersible and aerial robots for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that monitor marine protected areas, survey endangered species, and create 3D maps of marine habitats to better measure climate change. A former ballerina, she's active in the arts community and created an art exhibition of ultra slow-motion underwater photography that was selected as “Best of Oceans at MIT 2015.” In 2014 she lived underwater for 15 days as an engineer and scientist on Fabien Cousteau's Mission 31, the youngest female Aquarius aquanaut at the time. Grace was a four-year varsity letterman on MIT's sailing team and sailed across the Atlantic for a charity that supports youths in foster care.
An avid sailor, diver and National Geographic Explorer, Grace is passionate about developing technologies to help better understand, explore and manage the ocean. She earned her BSc in Mechanical & Ocean Engineering from MIT where she won the Wallace Prize as MIT’s top undergraduate in Ocean Engineering, the Keil Award for excellence in Ocean Engineering research, and the Wiesner Institute Award for advancing art and technology. After completing her PhD at the University of Oxford as a Marshal Scholar, she joined X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory to develop technologies for ocean restoration and sustainability. Grace is the chief scientist for the Pisces VI deep sea research submarine. In 2019 she filmed the National Geographic documentary “The Secret of the Ocean”, where she explores connections between 300 million year old coral fossils and modern day reefs. She has developed innovative technologies for MIT, CERN, and NASA. She also helped design, build, and test submersible and aerial robots for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that monitor marine protected areas, survey endangered species, and create 3D maps of marine habitats to better measure climate change. A former ballerina, she's active in the arts community and created an art exhibition of ultra slow-motion underwater photography that was selected as “Best of Oceans at MIT 2015.” In 2014 she lived underwater for 15 days as an engineer and scientist on Fabien Cousteau's Mission 31, the youngest female Aquarius aquanaut at the time. Grace was a four-year varsity letterman on MIT's sailing team and sailed across the Atlantic for a charity that supports youths in foster care.
Photo credit: MIT/Allegra Boverman
The Secret of the Ocean (Il Segreto Delgi Oceani)/ National Geographic
Innovators of Tomorrow/ BBC
Explorer of the Year/ Somerville College Magazine, University of Oxford
Fourteen world-changers named 2017 National Geographic Emerging Explorers/ National Geographic
An Aquanaut Charting the Sea’s Unknowns/ National Geographic
Somerville student offered opportunity to work with NASA/ Oxford
Why this Kansan bought a deep-sea submarine/ Kansas City Star
How to Save our Sick, Neglected Oceans: A CERN for the Oceans/ TIME Op-Ed
Cousteau Leads Aquanauts in Undersea Expedition/ National Geographic
Grace Undersea/ MIT Technology Review
Grace Young Interview | Job Living Under the Ocean/ Teen Vogue
Best of Oceans at MIT 2015/ Oceans at MIT
Slow-Motion Science and the Art of Capturing Marine Life/ Oceans at MIT
New MIT Exhibit Features High-Speed Underwater Photography/ Dive Info
Top 10 College Women/ Glamour
A young researcher talks about Fabien Cousteau’s underwater living experiment/ Earth Island Journal
Urge to protect oceans propels youngest aquanaut on Cousteau’s Mission 31/ Miami Herald
Grace Undersea: A Senior Forgoes Commencement to Spend 15 Days at the Bottom of the Ocean/ MIT Technology Review
Under the Sea/ MIT News
Under Pressure/ Wärtsilä Magazine
Marshall Scholars/ MIT News
Grace C. Young - Wiesner MIT Institute Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts at MIT/ Arts at MIT
Missiles & Misconceptions: Why We Know More about the Dark Side of the Moon than the Depths of the Ocean/ DSpace MIT
Innovators of Tomorrow/ BBC
Explorer of the Year/ Somerville College Magazine, University of Oxford
Fourteen world-changers named 2017 National Geographic Emerging Explorers/ National Geographic
An Aquanaut Charting the Sea’s Unknowns/ National Geographic
Somerville student offered opportunity to work with NASA/ Oxford
Why this Kansan bought a deep-sea submarine/ Kansas City Star
How to Save our Sick, Neglected Oceans: A CERN for the Oceans/ TIME Op-Ed
Cousteau Leads Aquanauts in Undersea Expedition/ National Geographic
Grace Undersea/ MIT Technology Review
Grace Young Interview | Job Living Under the Ocean/ Teen Vogue
Best of Oceans at MIT 2015/ Oceans at MIT
Slow-Motion Science and the Art of Capturing Marine Life/ Oceans at MIT
New MIT Exhibit Features High-Speed Underwater Photography/ Dive Info
Top 10 College Women/ Glamour
A young researcher talks about Fabien Cousteau’s underwater living experiment/ Earth Island Journal
Urge to protect oceans propels youngest aquanaut on Cousteau’s Mission 31/ Miami Herald
Grace Undersea: A Senior Forgoes Commencement to Spend 15 Days at the Bottom of the Ocean/ MIT Technology Review
Under the Sea/ MIT News
Under Pressure/ Wärtsilä Magazine
Marshall Scholars/ MIT News
Grace C. Young - Wiesner MIT Institute Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts at MIT/ Arts at MIT
Missiles & Misconceptions: Why We Know More about the Dark Side of the Moon than the Depths of the Ocean/ DSpace MIT