CHEERS OCEANEERS! March11th, 2026
CHEERS OCEANEERS! March 11th 2026
Reading the Water: What Environmental DNA Taught Me About Making Decisions in the Dark
Our main presenter this month is Bilgenur Baloğlu, PhD — the scientist who learned to make
decisions in the dark, then taught others to do the same.
In this presentation, Bilgenur traces her journey from detecting species in Singapore's reservoirs
using environmental DNA, to co-founding Wild Genomics, to building an executive advisory practice —
and reveals why the judgment required to run a field experiment and the judgment required to run a
company are not as different as you'd think. The presentation will cover:
● Dirty Data, Real Deadlines: What happens when your replicates disagree, your season is ending,
and you have to decide anyway — and why that's the best training ground for leadership.
● Building Wild Genomics: How she co-founded an atmospheric eDNA company that reads biodiversity
from the air itself — hardware, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and all the chaos in between.
● When the Fog Is Human: What changes when uncertainty stops being biological and starts being
about people, capital, and governance.
● The Framework: The structured judgment method she now uses with founders, investors, and senior
operators who can't afford to wait for clean data — because no one
ever has it.
***
Welcome to the monthly event for the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES), San Diego Chapter, which is hosting this meeting jointly along with TMA BlueTech (The Maritime Alliance), and MTS (Marine Technology Society).
Please join us for the main presentation and also plenty of time for networking and friendly conversation about everything oceanic, engineering, science, Blue Tech, and more. No need to be an IEEE or OES member, or TMA, or MTS. Everyone is invited.
This month, we will be at Quantum Brewing again, a cool science-themed brewery founded by a biochemist.
No ticket required, but please order something for yourself from the brewery.
Please grab a bite from a nearby restaurant, which is okay to bring into the brewery per the owner.
The food and drinks are not being funded by the hosts. Please open your own tab.
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
-
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- 5375 Kearny Villa Rd
- #116
- San Diego, California
- United States 92123
- Building: Quantum Brewing
- Starts 02 March 2026 08:00 PM UTC
- Ends 12 March 2026 04:00 AM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Bilgenur Baloğlu of Clarity & Movement
Biography:
Bilgenur Baloğlu, PhD has detected species from water samples in Singapore reservoirs, built bioinformatics pipelines for EPA international biomonitoring, consulted on aquatic infrastructure response for Singapore’s Public Utilities Board, co-founded an environmental DNA company that reads biodiversity from the air, taught machine learning at USC Keck School of Medicine and University of San Diego, received a Congressional recognition, and presented at Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s StartBlue Demo Day.
She is not easy to categorize. That’s the point.
She now leads Clarity & Movement, an advisory practice for senior operators, founders, and investors who need to make high-stakes decisions before the data is ready — which is always.
Contact & Connect
bilgenur@clarityandmovement.com
linkedin.com/in/bilgenur-baloglu
Agenda
Agenda:
5:30pm: Arrival and networking, order food/drinks for yourself.
6:15pm: OES and other hosting group announcements.
6:20pm: Main Presentation
6:40pm (approximately): “open mic” for any other attendees to present anything they like (ocean-related, of course).
Examples: employers presenting opportunities for employment, job seekers presenting a quick bio, internship program opportunities, promoting other events, seeking funding, “show and tell” of any cool technology you are working on, etc.
*For the open mic portion of the event, please observe a time-limit of 3 minutes maximum per person. If you want to give a longer presentation, please ask to be the main presenter for an upcoming monthly event.
7:00pm to close: enjoy some drinks and chatting with fellow oceanic engineering enthusiasts.
RSVPs are appreciated for planning purposes.