Nature Conservancy Announces Marine Fellowship Program

Nature Conservancy Announces Marine Fellowship Program

HONOLULU, HAWAI'I — The Nature Conservancy is launching a two-year Marine Conservation Fellowship Program to train recent college graduates to become the next generation of marine conservation leaders in Hawai‘i.

Modeled after the Conservancy’s successful Natural Resource Managers Fellowship Program, its marine counterpart will provide training in all aspects of marine resource planning, management and monitoring. Trainers will include senior Conservancy staff, marine resource experts, kupuna and other Hawai‘i conservation leaders.

O'ahu Marine Coordinator Eric Co (center, facing) with Maunalua Bay community members. © TNC

“Hawaii’s near shore fisheries have declined by 75% over the past century. If we are going to reverse this trend, we need a lot more people working in Hawai‘i to protect, restore and manage our coral reefs,” said Kim Hum, director of marine programs for Conservancy’s Hawai‘i program. “At the end of two years, fellows will have the necessary skills and knowledge to become successful marine resource managers in Hawai‘i. They will be highly competitive in Hawaii’s conservation job market for positions not just at the Conservancy, but at state and federal partner agencies, and other private sector marine-based programs.”

According to Hum, the fellowship program is designed to increase the state’s pool of qualified marine resource managers. “It’s difficult to find qualified candidates to fill mid-level resource manager positions,” she said. “These are the people who work directly with local communities to manage local marine resources, and they are key to restoring our reefs and near shore fisheries.”

The two-year program is designed for four fellows: two will be hired in the first year and two more in the second year, with a one-year overlap. The fellows hired in the first year will help train those hired in the second year. Fellows will be based in the Conservancy’s program offices on O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i Island, and play an integral role in the Conservancy’s marine conservation efforts, working on community-based projects with senior staff, as well as staff from partner agencies.

Manuel Mejia, the Conservancy’s community-based marine program manager, is coordinating the fellowship program. Before joining the Conservancy in 2006, Mejia worked with the Locally-Managed Marine Area Network, coordinating a network of 244 member sites from seven Asia-Pacific countries. In the Philippines, he managed a UNESCO World Heritage Site at Tubbataha National Marine Park for the World Wildlife Fund. He has also worked for USAID evaluating the effectiveness of community- and nature-based enterprises in Indonesia, the Solomon Islands and Fiji.

TNC marine staff (from left) Manuel Mejia, Zachary Caldwell and Eric Co © Rob Shallenberger/TNCAccording to Mejia, by the end of the training program the fellows will:

1) be able to identify Hawaiian species of fish, coral and limu;
2) understand human impacts on marine ecosystems;
3) be familiar with traditional Hawaiian practices and values that support environmental stewardship;
4) be able to identify the major threats to sustainable marine resource use and management;
5) be proficient in marine biological survey methods, data management and analysis of coastal ecosystem health;
6) be familiar with Hawaii’s regulatory framework and policies for marine resource management;
7) have experience in organizing and managing community-based conservation efforts, including project and volunteer management;
8) know how to communicate scientific survey results to communities, decision-makers and the media; and
9) be certified in SCUBA diving and emergency safety protocols.


The Conservancy is now seeking applicants with undergraduate degrees in ecology, biology, natural resource management, Hawaiian studies, environmental studies, geology, geography, conservation or other related fields. Candidates must be proven “self-starters” who have demonstrated initiative and motivation in all of their past experiences (e.g., school, professional or volunteer projects). Preference will be given to applicants who have knowledge of cultural and traditional marine resource management practices, are dedicated to marine conservation, and are likely to seek careers in the marine resources management and conservation field in Hawai‘i.

For more information, contact Jan Eber at jeber@tnc.org or call (808) 587-6269. The deadline for submitting applications is January 2, 2008.
Funding for the Marine Fellowship Program is being provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Atherton Family Foundation.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at http://www.nature.org/.


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How polluted is Ocean Water?

How polluted is Ocean Water?

What kind of stuff is in it and why are some areas worse than others? Why are some areas dark colored black water and some are clear blue?

ANSWER?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
One of the most polluted sections of ocean in the world today is known as the Gulf Of Mexico "Dead Zone". Thanks to runoff from the Mississippi River, there is an extremely unhealthy cake of sediment and pollution in the ocean that covers an area of 22,126 square kilometres.

The majority of the pollutants that make up this particular Dead Zone are agricultural-based pollutants, eg. artificial fertilizer and animal waste. Thanks to meterological elements such as rain, the pollution makes its way into the tributaries that lead to the Mississippi, forming a big disgusting clump of waste just offshore in the Gulf.

This causes depleted oxygen levels in the water, which in turn leads to reproductive problems and ultimately death in marine wildlife.There are currently reports of over 140 dead zones throughout the world - but as pessimistic as this sounds, the good news is that the world's previous largest dead zone in the Black Sea (over 70,000 square kilometres!!) actually cleared itself up over the course of 10 years due to a decrease in industrial waste.I'm no ecologist so don't quote me on this - but I wouldn't think that dead zones are responsible for the darnkess of the sea water, I would have thought that had to do more with the ocean's depth and any reefs or other such natural geological occurance (ie. clear blue coloured water closer to the shore and darker black out in the deep, or in a reef-heavy area). Although I'm sure dead zones are distinguishable by satellite, I wouldn't think that *every* off-coloured part of the ocean is a polluted part.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Check out this website, it contains a great array of colourful animations and activities all to do with the Gulf Of Mexico Dead Zone:

http://www.smm.org/deadzone/top.html


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