Local nonprofit with La Jolla High connections aims to curb plastic waste

Carl Nettleton is a speaker, a writer, a strategist, an analyst and the founder and president of the nonprofit OpenOceans Global.

Before all that, he was a La Jolla High School graduate. And through what he describes as a web of networking and some coincidences, he’s one of several former Vikings at the organization.

Nettleton, who established OpenOceans in 2007, describes it as “a solutions-oriented nonprofit focused on keeping plastic out of the ocean.”

“The way we’re approaching it is recognizing that the plastic in the ocean is not out in the middle of the ocean like people think,” Nettleton said.

OpenOceans uses Geographic Information System, or GIS, mapping to identify the pathways by which plastic ends up in the ocean and analyze probable sources of it.

The organization’s website lays out three pillars of its work — putting its data into a global context, linking people such as scientists and environmentalists to elected officials and other advocates and finding best practices for pollution prevention.

OpenOceans’ vision, however lofty, is a world without ocean crises. And Nettleton says that starts at the shore.

“If it’s on a beach somewhere, we can find it,” he said. “And if we find it, we should be able to find out what the pathway was for it to get there and where that plastic leaked into the environment so it ended up in the ocean.

“We have to stop plastic from getting into the ocean now. Because once it’s in the ocean, there’s little you can do about it.”

Over the years, a stream of La Jolla High graduates or La Jolla residents got involved with the group through some connection to Nettleton, even if they graduated in different classes.

Five people on the staff or board hail from La Jolla High. In addition to Nettleton, they are Brock Rosenthal, a marine technology expert and broker; Gino Mazzanti, general counsel; Shauna Buffington, communications and marketing consultant; and Simon Andrews, a board member. Another board member, Philip White, lives in the area.

Mazzanti said he and Nettleton met while attending Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla and remained close friends. When he heard about Nettleton’s vision for OpenOceans, he didn’t hesitate to join in.

White became connected to the organization last year, thanks to an introduction by Mazzanti.

Nettleton ultimately serves as a common link for everyone, White said.

“It’s all down to Carl,” he said. “Carl is an amazing leader. He is passionate, committed and very well-respected in the global oceanographic community. He seems to know everyone in the field and he’s viewed by the scientific and environmental arenas as a voice of reason and pragmatism.

“He does all this work for no compensation, so people he connects with find all this very impressive and they want to get involved. Therefore, when he speaks with his friends and neighbors or addresses a local Rotary Club meeting, his fellow La Jollans are naturally drawn into the fold.”

Rosenthal, who met Nettleton through his various nonprofit endeavors, chalked up the La Jolla connections to proximity to and love for the ocean. Coincidentally, Rosenthal and Nettleton’s brother were in the same graduating class at LJHS.

“When you grow up in La Jolla, every day in the summer you go to the beach and a lot of people learn to fish, dive and surf,” Nettleton said. “I think it was just part of the culture growing up in La Jolla and going to La Jolla High School — the ocean.”

Buffington, Nettleton’s longtime friend, agreed, saying “It’s where you share long summer days, enjoy sunset gatherings and [where you] went on senior ditch day.”

OpenOceans Global recently was credentialed to attend United Nations plastic treaty negotiations in Geneva and presented a workshop in Bogota, Colombia, for the AmeriGeo 2025 conference.

Learn more about the group at openoceans.org.