How a Clearing student is making waves in ocean science

Tsian Deslandes has set up an initiative to encourage more people - and greater diversity - into her subject

Tsian Deslandes at the Devon County Show

Since coming to the University through Clearing in 2019, Tsian Deslandes has thrown herself into uni life and her ocean science course.

She has attended conferences, signed up to be a University student ambassador, and worked in the Clearing call centre every year to help incoming students through the same process she once experienced.

Now her drive has seen her create a new initiative, , to show everyone that they can have a career in marine science – and it’s already having a positive impact internationally.

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I’ve been fortunate to have some incredible opportunities, and I want others to know they can have them too.

Mermaids Beyond Borders came to me as an idea when I attended the Coastal Futures Conference, which was a large UK ocean conference hosting academics and industry from all over the UK.

I got to network and meet so many amazing people, but I realised there wasn’t a huge amount of diversity in the room. Not just in terms of gender or race, but disability too. As a disabled woman – I have Erb’s Palsy, which limits mobility in my arms and shoulders – I wanted to do something about it, and Mermaids Beyond Borders was born.

Tsian Deslandes

Tsian at Coastal Futures with feloow students Will and Freya

Tsian at the Coastal Futures conference with fellow students, Will and Freya

Tsian at the CEFAS conference

Making an impact

Within just three months, Tsian has established links with organisations worldwide and run projects with international reach, including:

The Ocean’s Love Story: A storytelling campaign launched for World Ocean Day 2025, uplifting ocean-connected voices across cultures and abilities.
Blue Hands Project (in development): Creating ocean sign language videos to make marine education accessible to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
Breathe Blue (in planning): Focused on adaptive diving and ocean access for people with disabilities.
Ocean Bytes: An education and storytelling branch, delivering bite-sized explainers, webinars, and youth-friendly content. She is also working on a podcast called A Love Note to the Islands, spotlighting islander and underrepresented perspectives.

Tsian has also spoken at international conferences – including MISSiversary, the 5th anniversary event for US-based Minorities in Shark Sciences – and developed a significant social media following across LinkedIn and Instagram. She’s in the process of turning Mermaids Beyond Borders into a Community Interest Company.

It’s grown quite quickly and, like any venture, I’m working out exactly what I want to do with it in order for it to have a long and lasting impact.

For me, if just one disabled person, or person from a lower socio-economic background thinks ‘ocean science might be for me’ when they wouldn’t have before, then that’s amazing.

I still have my own ambitions of working with marine mammals and that’s now expanded to include sharks too. What I’m hoping to do alongside it is ensure the new venture reaches as many people as possible.

The ocean doesn’t have borders, so why should we?”

“�鶹��ý opens doors”

Tsian’s tenacity was rewarded with the Resilience award at the Beacon Awards hosted by the �鶹��ý Students’ Union.

Her hard work also sees her mentor with widening access initiative Opportunity �鶹��ý as well as the ‘Are we included?’ programme for looked-after children; and she is a mentee in the University’s careers mentoring scheme, where she’s mentored by Ali Hood, Director of the Shark Trust.

Up next for Tsian is supporting students in the University’s Clearing call centre, followed by a trip to the Bahamas for fieldwork and research experience through the University’s Ocean Science programme.

Winning at the 2025 Beacon Awards

Tsian and Suanne Gibson at Opportunity �鶹��ý

Tsian with Professor Suanne Gibson at Opportunity �鶹��ý celebration event

All of the support I’ve received has been amazing. I didn’t think University would be for me, but applied through Clearing and here I am.

Coming to �鶹��ý continues to be the best decision I ever made.

�鶹��ý opens doors, and I want to help others realise that too.

Find out more

Tsian Deslandes, aged 8, with a dolphin. She is now studying Ocean Science and Marine Conservation at the �鶹��ý

Meet the ‘dolphin doctor’ student living her dream thanks to Clearing

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Diverse crowd of people celebrating and throwing brightly coloured paint

Read more about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at �鶹��ý