Internship Wrap Up

Posted on by

Last week my internship with NOAA officially ended. It feels like if flew by in a matter of weeks not months.

What did you accomplish with your host organization? What was the impact of your work?

By the end of my internship, I wrote an extensive research paper containing the following: a comprehensive literature review on coastal and oceanic blue carbon, threats to blue carbon habitats, case studies of blue carbon analysis and restoration, market mechanisms to protect blue carbon, an assessment of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary blue carbon sources, and recommendations for MPA managers to implement blue carbon work. My paper will be published in the Spring and will be the first article to summarize blue carbon work in this much detail and with recommendations.

Read More →

As the Summer Ends…

Posted on by

Sadly my summer internships have come to a close and I will use this final blog post to reflect on my experience.

What did you accomplish with your host organization? What was the impact of your work?

I am very proud project I completed with the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions. I created a master list of relevant laws and conventions concerning social responsibility in the seafood/ fishing industry. I then completed a document of detailed findings where the laws were defined, and a synthesis of findings was created to identify areas in the industry where more work needs to be done, and to also highlight the legality or lack there of on the varying topics relating to socially responsible seafood (Human rights, worker rights, gender rights, child protection, human trafficking, seafarer and ocean safety, social responsibility, and food security and nutrition). This document will be used by the Alliance to educate and orient member organizations to the relevant laws and conventions they should be aware of.

Read More →

Blue Carbon Mapping and Carbon Markets

Posted on by

It is truly incredible how quickly time flies. I have recently moved onto the next phase of my internship mapping the seagrass, kelp, and salt marsh extents in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Most of my time has been spent trying to find alternative datasets to make sure all known habitat extents are included in my analysis. Based on the area I estimate through mapping I am calculating how much carbon is stored and sequestered in the sanctuary every year. Once my results are complete, I will determine how much money can be gained by entering into the voluntary carbon market and the social benefit to society by sequestering carbon. This analysis is vital for the sanctuary to understand how much carbon they have stored and how potential restoration projects of salt marsh and seagrass may increase that amount. Helping the sanctuary has expanded my knowledge of blue carbon and participated in a growing field that is essential to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Read More →

There and Back Again

Posted on by

And just like that, we’ve reached the dog days of summer! I say this in every post (and every check in meeting I had during my internship), but I really can’t believe how fast time has just flown by. I’ve gone running out the door, off on my new adventure and made it all the way to the end with a whole set of deliverables, skills, and new memories under my belt. And here I am now, ready to sit and reflect on the adventure I’ve had.

Enjoying the “outdoor office” with my “coworker”
Read More →

Solutions for the Navy and Ocean Conservancy

Posted on by

What began as two internships without an end goal in sight, has officially concluded with two publications. Though my internship has wrapped, my work with the Navy is continuing, unofficially. I have been invited to join calls with the city of Monterey and NPS to discuss climate resiliency efforts and public-public partnerships going forward. At the end of my internship, I produced a small report for the best practices for military installations to consider when pursuing public-public partnerships for climate resiliency. My report has already been presented to the NPS executive leadership team and disseminated to the Naval officers around the country who I interviewed in the process. The report will also be published in NPS’ journal and newsletter. With any luck, this report will provide guidance for military installations around the country as they begin to discuss the mandated inclusion of climate, energy and cybersecurity resiliency.

My work with the Ocean Conservancy ends this week after we had our final in-person discussion of my report and professional review. I spent all summer researching the relationship between climate change and plastics with the intention of presenting an in-depth report highlighting the major contributions and ultimately, advising Ocean Conserving how to realign their campaigns. My 40 page report discusses the entire life-cycle of plastics, policy intervention points, recommendations for OC and what areas of research they should pursue in the future. My bosses seemed extremely pleased, as am I.

I am incredibly happy with the work I produced this summer as well as how much I learned. I’m grateful to both organizations for taking me on and giving me the opportunity to produce meaningful work, as well as to CBE for funding the experience because without my grant, neither option would have been possible.

Anyone interested in seeing my reports can contact me directly as I would be happy to share them. steagalljames@gmail.com