Wave Makers: A South Bay Marine Biologist Brings Ocean Adventures to Local Families
Wave Makers is a South Bay based marine education business founded by Jennifer Kolbauer, a marine biologist who wants every kid and adult in the community to have the chance to fall in love with the ocean the way she did. Through guided tidepool walks, kayak tours, and personalized aquarium visits, Wave Makers is helping South Bay families put their phones down and reconnect with the natural world right in their own backyard.
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From Beach Days to a Career in Marine Biology
Jennifer’s connection to the ocean started young, with family summer trips to Newport Beach and afternoons spent playing in the water and boogie boarding. Some of her fondest childhood memories are tied to the beach.
In elementary school, she watched a video about SCUBA diving and told herself she wanted to do that one day. Aquarium tanks at home kept that curiosity alive, teaching her what it takes to care for aquatic animals and setting the stage for the career that would follow.
The path became clear during her first field study college course in marine biology in Baja, Mexico, a class held literally on the beach. From there, she pursued a bachelor’s degree in Aquatic Biology from UC Santa Barbara along with advanced, rescue, and scientific diver certifications. That education led to 15 years working in animal husbandry and informal education at aquariums and marine facilities across the region, and more recently, to launching her own South Bay business.
What Wave Makers Offers
Wave Makers is built to be for everyone. Jennifer designed the business to create inclusive spaces where kids, adults, and people from all walks of life can immerse themselves in the natural world.
The programs give people a reason to put their phones down and be present in the moment. That might mean exploring a tidepool in search of ocean critters, taking a guided kayak tour through the harbor to visit the local sea lions, or getting a tailored aquarium experience with a marine biologist as a personal guide.
Whether it is a regular weekend outing or a birthday celebration, Wave Makers offers a welcoming way to reconnect with the environment alongside a passionate, knowledgeable guide who genuinely wants to help create lasting memories for South Bay families and inspire the next generation of ocean lovers.
Why This Work Matters to Jennifer
Before starting Wave Makers, Jennifer spent years working with underserved youth in Los Angeles and noticed how many kids had never swum in the ocean or even visited a beach.
That experience shaped her mission. She wanted to create a way for all kids and their families to experience a day at the beach, and to show them that a career built around the ocean is possible for them too. Her goal is to let people know the ocean is for everyone, and that they can make a difference in ways they may never have imagined, whether through a simple beach cleanup or by studying something like underwater remotely operated vehicles.
Community in the South Bay
For Jennifer, community is the heart of the South Bay. It shows up in small, everyday moments: helping a neighbor take out the trash, greeting a stranger with a smile on the Greenbelt, dancing every Friday at Veterans Park with a group of Zumba neighbors from all walks of life, or joining a pickup volleyball game on Ave G and walking away with new friends.
As Jennifer puts it, she only knows the South Bay as our community, a place where people show up for each other in ways big and small.
Advice for Anyone Starting Their Own Path
Jennifer often returns to a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Her advice for anyone starting something new is simple. Just because you have never done something before does not mean you cannot succeed. It is better to try and fail than not try at all, so there are no regrets later. She encourages people to lean into their support system, whether that is friends, family, or people in the community, because they will show up in ways you never imagined. Her advice comes down to feeling the fear, and doing it anyway.
The Mission Behind Wave Makers
Jennifer says it is the community that inspires the mission of Wave Makers. She wants to help people discover a reason to care about the aquatic environment around them and form a meaningful connection to it.
Most people do not realize, for example, that plankton supplies more of the oxygen we breathe every day than trees do. Jennifer hopes that information like that inspires people to make small, positive changes in their own lives. Being the catalyst for those changes is what drives Wave Makers, reflected in its tagline: Let’s Make Some Waves.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Wave Makers?
Wave Makers is a South Bay based marine education business founded by marine biologist Jennifer Kolbauer, offering tidepool tours, guided kayak trips, and personalized aquarium experiences for kids, adults, and families.
Who leads the Wave Makers experiences?
Jennifer Kolbauer, a marine biologist with a degree in Aquatic Biology from UC Santa Barbara and 15 years of experience in animal husbandry and informal education at aquariums and marine facilities, personally guides Wave Makers programs.
What kinds of activities does Wave Makers offer?
Wave Makers offers tidepool exploration, guided kayak tours through the harbor to see local sea lions, and tailored aquarium visits with a marine biologist as a personal guide, suitable for everyday outings or celebrations like birthdays.
Who is Wave Makers for?
Wave Makers is designed for everyone, including kids, adults, and people from all walks of life who want to unplug and connect with the natural world.
Where is Wave Makers based?
Wave Makers is based in the South Bay of Los Angeles.
Wave Makers
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Contact: wavemakersedu@gmail.com
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