Learning through magic: Mermaid Echo makes conservation education fun for everyone
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Education, with a touch of sparkle.
A college graduate student is using fantasy to teach children about something very real: our environment.
Mermaid Echo is a performer, a teacher, and an activist, wrapped up into an eye-catching character.
"Echo wears purple hair and beautiful, big eyes with like, sparkly purples and pinks,” Echo said. "I have a 35-pound silicone mermaid tail made by MerTailor. It's custom fit to my body."
When on land, Mermaid Echo is just Echo, a Hudson, Wisconsin native, with a passion for freshwater conservation.
“I grew up on the water. My family had boats ever since I can remember,” Echo said.
Echo, who uses they/them pronouns, used to be a gymnast, until an injury in 2012 changed their plans.
"I had surgery on my ankle. The doctor said I would never be an athlete again, and I said, I’m going to prove you wrong,” Echo said.
While recovering from the injury, Echo found a captivating character on social media.
"I came across this mermaid called Mermaid Raina, and Raina was doing childhood conservation education in Nova Scotia, in Canada,” Echo explained.
Mermaids like Raina use their character as an educational tool for kids.
"I just fell in love with the connection that a performer can make between kids and conservation, and that magic that lights up in their eyes when you bridge the gap between hard science, and whimsical, childhood play,” Echo said.
Inspired by Mermaid Raina’s work, Echo bought a fabric tail online, and dove in - literally.
Mermaid swimming requires strength and meditation, and Echo didn’t need perfect ankles to do it.
“I was definitely very comfortable with diving, and more comfortable always under the water than on land,” Echo said. "Once I got my silicone tail I really just felt like I was supposed to be doing this. It was so fun."
Echo fell in love, and "mermaiding" became their lifestyle.
"It was probably in 2016 when I launched the business when I had this fully fledged persona, or as we say in the community, the ‘mersona’,” Echo said.
Since then, Mermaid Echo has travelled the Midwest, sharing the importance of protecting our lakes and rivers.
“I teach it to the kids, but in a way that's accessible to a five-year-old, which is magic, and sparkles and mermaids,” Echo said. "If you are a schoolteacher with a first-grade class, I'll come into your class and we'll have a 20-minute lesson on, you name it, micro-plastics, overfishing, bioaccumulation."
Outside of classrooms, Mermaid Echo attends birthday parties, and aquariums, like Discovery World in Milwaukee.
"I have full-blown aquarium shows where kids come to the audience and they sit down and they watch this underwater play,” Echo explained. “it's characters, and surprises, and laughter, it's a good time."
Despite their lifelong love for the Earth, Echo’s career in conservation did not come easily.
"I was always told as a kid in science class that I was bad at science, that I was bad at biology, and I was, because nobody believed in me, and nobody gave me the correct tools to be good at it,” Echo said.
As they got older, Echo tried to turn their focus to other types of activism, but research always tied back to environmental impacts.
"I just thought, if we could just address the climate first, then maybe then we can talk about other things too, and I just couldn't deny it anymore,” Echo said.
Now, when the tail is off, you can find Echo at UW-Milwaukee, completing their master’s degree in Freshwater Sciences, and planning to graduate in December.
"I am good at science if I care about it in the right way, you know?" Echo said.
Echo knows for sure that teaching is their calling.
In the future, they want to take Mermaid Echo on the road, bringing conservation education to communities that need it most.
"Making it accessible is always the top priority of mine, whether I'm teaching adults how to be a mermaid, or kids how to take care of the world,” Echo said.
While Mermaid Echo is unique to the DairyLand, they aren’t doing this work alone.
The Mermaid community is growing across the world.
"I think a lot of people don't know how many mermaids there are out there. I certainly didn't until I joined the community,” Echo said.
Many mermaids also use their magic to inspire change and lighten the weight of climate concern.
“Working together is the way to get there, because I think kids take it all on,” Echo said, “I did, blamed myself, got really in my head, and thought I'm the one to save the world - no, no, no. We've got this. We're a collective, and mermaids are there to help you."
At every appearance, Echo has the children raise their hand, and say a ‘Mermaid Promise’ - to protect all creatures.
"The biggest thing that I share with kids is that you can make a difference,” Echo said.
You can find Mermaid Echo at Discovery World several times a year.
The last Underwater Play of the season is at Discovery World on Sunday, August 13, 2023.