Surveying for days and days and days …

Posted on by

image_11One of my main projects with Root Solutions this summer has been with none other than … (drum roll please) … The Marine Mammal Center!! Never would have guessed right? 🙂

 

In order to determine exactly which behavior change tools would be the most effective at TMMC myself and several of my fellow interns had the privilege to spend 7 days surveying the public and talking to the incredible volunteers who keep the place running.

image_4Each morning we would arrive at TMMC around 10am, set up our survey table, and ask people about their experience as they left the center until about 4pm. The purpose of this survey was to determine whether or not the messages about using less plastic and consuming sustainable seafood, which the volunteers at TMMC are working so hard to convey to the public, are being properly received by the visitors to the center.

It was such an incredible experience to spend a week at the Marine Mammal Center. Besides it being a place of impeccable beauty I had such fun time talking to the different visitors – many of whom were on vacation from other countries! Prior to coming to MIIS for grad school I was teaching environmental education to kids, so I was in heaven talking to the kids about how cool the baby elephant seals were, or how similar our human bodies are to a seal’s body because we are all mammals!
image_6

I was lucky enough to have some of the most amazing co-workers on the planet, and together we got a total of 135 survey respondents! Sheer excitement can’t begin to describe what I felt the day I did the final count of the surveys in the office after we were all done 🙂

image_8

Another HUGE thank you to all of my co-workers/BFF’s at Root Solutions who helped me make this summer project a huge success!! I had the best time getting to spend the whole day with each of you outside of the office and I truly thank you all for making my whole summer fellowship so incredible!

We’ve done the data analysis and are nearly done preparing the final report that will be given to the Marine Mammal Center. I can’t wait to share the result with everyone! So far … it looks AMAZING!!! 🙂

Something smells fishy…

Posted on by

“What do we say to our ancestors

When all the fish are gone

If we fail to protect our home

And all our future children to come

Their hope lies in us”

-Te Vaka

This quote concludes the two-page summary of my research paper exploring the regional cross-sectoral impacts and benefits of coastal fisheries in the Pacific. Yesterday brought together regional fisheries experts; government and local fisheries officers; permanent secretaries and representatives from the Ministries of Economy, Health, iTaukei Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Strategic Planning; representatives from the community based Fiji’s Locally Managed Marine Area’s, Secretariat for the Pacific Community the University of the South Pacific, Institute of Marine Resources,South Pacific Tourism Organisation and the Pacific Islands Development Fund; as well as the stars helping to navigate the sailors: the IUCN staff. Remember all those acronyms I was telling you about? Read More →

Kickball Champions

Posted on by

Only 2 more weeks?! I can’t believe how time has flown by! I’ll update you all on my projects, but first, I think it’s important to let you know that my team won the annual EDF summer picnic kickball game. Woohoo! We get free breakfast in the office next week 🙂 Unfortunately, my phone died shortly after I took these photos.. But as you can see it was a beautiful, sunny day at Lake Temescal.

 

13903409_10154361998933535_5850530269490707813_n 13882522_10154361998983535_7616638126575776208_n 13906973_10154361998968535_3856682065141724060_n

I learned a lot about microclimates that day–though it may be foggy and freezing in Pacific Heights, make sure to WEAR A HAT, BRING SUNSCREEN, and DRESS IN LAYERS if you are heading out to the East Bay, because it will be sunny and at least 10 degrees warmer…And you will be very upset at yourself for having not followed these rules, and you will spend a large part of the day cowering in whatever shade you can find.

Read More →

Van Life

Posted on by

This last month of my fellowship has been a whirlwind! My last update had me preparing to head off to Indonesia to begin to implement the study I designed for Pelagic Data Systems. Unfortunately, there were several complications in the fishery I was supposed to be working in, and as such plans had to change. But the change has been excellent!

 

I’m now splitting my time between two projects. I have resumed work for the CBE on the Arctic economics project with WWF. My focus within this project has been on the subsistence/indigenous economy, and I’ve been working to collect data and useful information to help understand how economic and environmental changes in the Arctic are affecting the indigenous populations. It has been a very interesting area to research, and I’m excited to contribute to such an important project!

Read More →

Three Cheers for Economics!

Posted on by

The past two months have flown by in a whirlwind of seascapes, hiking, surfing, fish catch reports, economic analyses and the fundamental question of the summer: how do you prove large-scale marine conservation is good for economic growth?

In creating my argument I have been focusing on two wildly different seascapes within the Coral Triangle: The Bird’s Head Seascape and the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape. The Bird’s Seascape is located wholly within the self-declared “conservation province” of West Papua, the semi-autonomous province of Indonesia. It is home to a network of community-run marine protected areas and a relatively low population. The Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape encompasses waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines and includes larger cities and busy shipping routes. Despite their differences, they are both full of examples of how communities and business have economically benefited from being involved in integrated and comprehensive marine planning.

Read More →

Chapter 2 in which Josh continually wonders what could possibly go wrong

Posted on by

What could possibly go wrong? is a question that comes up in my personal life frequently, though not as a genuine query. It’s a useful way to tag the dumb commitments I make to uncertain courses of action. For example, I employed it once on an after-dark stroll through San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. Another time as I jumped on the back of a Moroccan stranger’s motorcycle after he asked me if I wanted to see where the donkeys and camels meet. And more recently, as Shaun and I walked down deserted side streets of Suva at midnight on our way to the Deep Sea Nightclub, the one down by the docks that locals dis-affectionately call a “night club for thieves.” Read More →