After one month in Southern Pohnpei with the Enipein community, my time in the jungle is up. I bid farewell to my “brother” Teraul and the rest of my wonderful host-family, then delivered my conservation management plan to the Woun Kepin Soamwoai Nature Conservancy, sent my grant proposal to the Municipal Government of Kitti, distributed my Ridge-to-Reef educational PowerPoint to the Community Conservation Officers, and presented the village chief with my Enipein Ecotourism outreach brochure. I left my injured bird, Elvis, in the caring hands of some village friends who agreed to continue my efforts of nursing him back to health, and gave my adopted stray dog, Kovu, one final pat as I left Enipein and the jungle behind me. Read More →

Having snorkeled the Nahtik Marine Protected Area and having navigated the Enipein Mangrove Reserve, exploration of the Watershed Rainforest Reserve was the last step required to complete my tour of the three conservation sites included in my Ridge-to-Reef management plan for the Woun Kepin Soamwaoi Nature Conservancy. Read More →

I wake to the gentle pitter-patter of raindrops on my tin roof, quickly followed by the thunderous drum of rain pouring down from the heavens, as if trying to wash the planet clean (if only it were so easy). Which reminds me that I should probably shower. I sit up slowly as to not wake my bedmates, which are naturally accustomed to the noise of tropical downpours, and sneak outside. The sun is just beginning to peak through the jungle canopy, sending beams of light dancing across the rapidly forming muddy puddles. I grab my shoes and soap and begin my slippery descent down the moss covered, rocky embankment. Read More →

After 27 hours of planes, airports, buses and taxis, I have found myself in the South Pacific on the Island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. The tropical heat and humidity are quite a change from cool and foggy Monterey, but the rainy tropical afternoon thunderstorms offer refuge from the smothering heat. Read More →