Life Learning Academy, San Francisco CA
Participate in the Marine Conservation program hosted by Global Vision International in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, focusing the management and conservation of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, and afterwards study Spanish with a tutor in Quintana Roo, to inform students in the “Earth Optimism in Action” ecology class with insights and inspiration for collaboration with a local environmental agency of their choosing.
This photo is a screenshot from a video of me explaining the coral food and feeding process. The coral that is in the onland aquarium is fed a special blend formulated for the local coral.
This photo is a screenshot from a video of me explaining the food and feeding process for the aquarium crustaceans. Along with cultivating the coral, we are also stewards of the animals that are stewards of the reef.
This is a photo a me and and our scuba boat. We would cruise out each day on this little boat to the reef to take data on what coral, which species are bleaching off in which regions at what rate.
Sea turtles are majestic creatures. Being in the presence of a sea turtle is such a magical experience. These are the experiences I wish to be able to protect and provide for many others via protection of the coral reefs.
This is a photo of some of the data collection process. We run a line in a designated place, and at specific intervals we place a square and count how many of a specific target species in that square. This is one method of data collection.
This is a photo of the underwater nursery. We build these and maintain them for future planting of coral plugs, in order to provide 'bulking' to the reef.
I learned a lot about the data collection process. An ecosystem as complicated as a coral reef has an endless amount of significant species. The training process to get many people able to identify all the fish would be unreasonable. I got to see "Science as a human endeavor" embodied in the training process. As humans, we have limited capacity. It made most sense to train us to be able to identify selected "Target Species". This way we would focus on specific species that provide crucial data.
I learned that I can be a great leader and problem solver. I saw the great potential of the group, and I saw the passion that each person had for the project. There was a problem with leadership and proactivity and direction. When I identified that there was no true leadership, I took it upon myself to harness the passions of the individuals in the group, and made decisions for us to take on more than we were initially being asked to do.
I did not expect to build as close of relationships with the other idividuals on the volunteering project. I thought that the experience might be full of mostly college aged kids, but it was a wide spanning group of individuals from all over and of all ages. All of whom had some passion to the ocean and all of whom brought different qualities to the tabel that made for a truly special group.
I have been able to share my experience with my students, and show them the scientific process that we go through. I have shown my student what is working well, and what needs to be improved on the project. But the most value I will get towards reaching my student goals will be to empower my students with the ability to participate with local projects that have similar goals of restoring a habitat that is under environmental stress.
I shared my story with Wild Oysters Project here in SF bay, and told them my plans for teaching ecology with my created content. The most comprable thing to the SF Bay, which would be the oyster projects and sea wall construction. I have already met with individuals from this program, as well as the Smithsonian Education Research Center in Tiburon regarding their oyster program. I have set up hands-on learning for my students to do data collection on the wild oyster cultivation pods.
I improved my Spanish tremendously, and I continue to improve my Spanish by regularly talking with those I met in my fellowship. Additionally, my cultural understanding of many of my students has been expanded. This has been a huge help beyond my classroom, as many of my students' parents speak Spanish, but they do not speak English. This has already been a great help so far this semester in communication and relationships with parents.