A REGIONAL PACIFIC ISLAND-HAWAI'I PARTNERSHIP TO STRENGTHEN AND EXPAND CAPACITY IN ASPECTS OF AQUACULTURE AND MARINE SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR IM

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0208917
• Grant No.: 2006-38416-17726
• Project No.: MIRE-2006-04237
• Proposal No.: 2006-04237
• Program Code: AA-Q
• Project Start Date: Sep 15, 2006
• Project End Date: Sep 14, 2009
• Grant Year: 2006

Project Director
Hess, D. J.

Recipient Organization
COLLEGE OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
PO BOX 1258
MAJURO, MARSHALL ISLANDS,MH 96960

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
This work proposes to strengthen the current capacity of the College of the Marshall Islands to work with current and new university and agency partners to strengthen capacity in aquaculture education and expand capacity to include applied aspects of marine science, vocational aquaculture, resource economics and coastal studies. The end goal is to increase the number of students from under-represented groups entering professions related to aquaculture and the marine sciences, and to provide them with job-related skills to increase the likelihood of success in these roles. This work also aims to achieve a multiplicative effect in the community by providing training to adult and non-traditional students and trainees such as government employees, private sector members and community leaders to allow for continuing education in marine resource management, conservation and aquaculture.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
903	6099	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Keywords

aquaculture

marine science

resource economics

extension

Goals / Objectives
1. Provide design and material support during the establishment of an aquaculture and marine science center at the College of the Marshall Islands. 2. Create training opportunities for students in applied and vocational aspects of marine science to promote business development and increase professional success. 3. Strengthen faculty skills in applied marine science and aquaculture through training of trainer workshops and technical assistance in curriculum design.

Project Methods
The approach to objective one will be to design a multi-purpose aquaculture, demonstration and teaching facilities for the new marine science center which is to be built on the CMI campus. The time frame for this will be from November 2006 to November 2007 The approach to objective two will be that two Marshallese students from UHH will participate in the MASSIP internship program. The students will return to the RMI during their summer break and be placed in internship positions within government agencies. Further, total of five other internships will be offered to students from CMI during the project period. The time frame for this will be from June- August 2007. The approach to objective three will be a 10 day intensive training course for 3 CMI marine science faculty will be held at the MERIP laboratory in Pohnpei. The time frame for this will be May 2007. Further, marine sciencecurricula will be analyzed by faculty and outside specialists to improve the quality and relevance of the courses to the RMI. In addition a course outline will be developed for resource economics. The time frame for this will be June 2007 - June 2008

Progress 09/15/06 to 09/14/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1. The completion of the new science building at the College of the Marshall Islands was delayed for over six months. This building is the site of the demonstration project. Since completion of the building, preliminary plans have been established for the creation of this demonstration facility which includes aquaculture production tanks and hatchery and touch tanks. Interpretive posters and displays for visitors have been established in the new building which also includes a teaching laboratory. Because of the nature of the ongoing construction, the demonstration facility had to be relocated to our Arrak campus which also has the aquaculture research station. The demonstration facility has been incorporated into the hatchery and now is being used by our aquaculture extension agents for outreach and education. 2. Curriculum has been developed for training students and faculty in environmental education and management. Training has been completed for aquaculture, environmental science and resource management. 3. There has been outreach conducted via workshops on aquaculture development. There also has been outreach developed by the extension agents on the feasibility of outer island aquaculture. 4. An internship program has been designed and established for student interns. 5. Two workshops facilitated by Dr. Maria Haws and Mr. Simon Ellis were held on Majuro in 2008 and 2009. 6. The development of curriculum for a Marine Conservations Certificate program. This program is designed for students, agency personnel and outer islanders. This program has been implemented starting in May 2009 and will continue each summer. PARTICIPANTS: Donald Hess - Co-Project Director Simon Ellis - Co-Project Director Dr. Maria Haws - University of Hawaii Sea Grant Agent College of the Marshall Islands Faculty Outer island participants in Certificate Program Marshall Islands Conservation Society (NGO) Interns Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority TARGET AUDIENCES: Local Communities Outer Island Communities Students at the College of the Marshall Islands Outer Island conservation managers PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
1. Training has been completed for aquaculture, environmental science and resource management. As a result these concepts have been added to the curriculum in either existing courses or new courses developed such as an aquaculture course. 2. Partnerships have been established locally with the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority and the Republic of the Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Agency to house these interns. There have been two interns each summer working at MIMRA and EPA for the past two summers. 3. The first year of Marine Conservation Certificate Program had 23 participants. These participants were all from outer islands and were selected by the local community or the mayor of their respective atolls. There were 14 atolls represented. The course lasted for three weeks and included information on resource management, resource assessment, resource conservation, climate change, socio-economic information, aquaculture, and risk management. This was a very successful program and the participants asked to come back the following year to learn more information to take back to their communities.

Publications

• No publications reported this period