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It was early on day eight of our stay in Anguilla, and day 20 of our time in the Caribbean. Program participants for Coral Reef Conservation: Caribbean (L-318) piled into two vehicles for the short drive to the headquarters of the Anguilla Department of Natural Resources. The morning’s outing was a planned session with our local partner to introduce the students and program staff to the work of that agency. We met Remone Johnson, an officer in the Fisheries and Marine Resources Unit, as well as Kafi Wallace, Director of the Unit, and Jasmin Ruan, a marine biologist. We were also joined by Zoya Buckmire, an SEA alumna from Grenada, who sailed on a past Caribbean Reef Expedition program and now works as a Field Coordinator for the Anguilla Government’s Invasive Plant Management Project. What was slated as a 90-minute session easily expanded into three hours! We learned about shark video monitoring and hydroponics as well as past and present efforts to manage and conserve marine resources. Our students were excited to share their reef survey work and gratified that it was aiding the efforts of the Anguilla Fisheries and Marine Resources Unit.  

Experiences like this local partnership are the heart of this new coastal community-based program. More than two years of planning and development sought to utilize SEA strengths and relationships in the Caribbean. Our mission for this non-sailing program was to increase accessibility to experiential ocean education and to create a model for international research and educational programs that minimize the harmful effects of parachute research (the extraction of data from an area without consulting or sharing with local communities). We prioritized time for students to be literally immersed in coastal waters and to engage more deeply with local experts and the coastal communities that depend on near-shore marine ecosystems.  

CRC: Caribbean began with six weeks on our Woods Hole campus where students were introduced to a multi-disciplinary and holistic view of coral reef conservation, coastal resilience, and the relationship of island communities with the marine environment. In addition, students worked closely with SEA faculty to develop exploratory projects in coral reef science and blue humanities that would be the focus of their Caribbean experience. 

We visited four islands for biogeographic comparison of coral reef health as well as varying approaches to reef conservation, environmental protection, and coastal resilience. Ten days at each location allowed time to conduct thorough snorkel surveys and to engage with local partners and their communities. Research plans were developed in collaboration with these partners to collect data at sites that were critical to their management efforts. Our newly developed Seabird sensor, the HydroCAT-EP v2, measured seven critical water quality parameters and thus, invited conversations about expanded collaborations. Ecology and sensor data related to terrestrial runoff, ocean warming, and acidification in coastal marine environments was analyzed and we aim to develop a longitudinal database to benefit future SEA students and Caribbean partners. The program concluded with a Research Symposium in which students shared their findings with local Bajans, our Caribbean partners, and friends and family of program participants. 

We are grateful to the SEA community for supporting this program and to our local Caribbean partners for enriching the fieldwork experience! 

Submitted by Dr. Craig Marin & Dr. Heather Page, Coral Reef Conservation: Caribbean Program Directors  

Be sure to read the blogs written by students throughout their program as well as SEAWriter.