Keith Ellenbogen's Views on GRE Palau Mission (KSLOF)

The Global Reef Expedition: Palau

[2014]

National Geographic Voices - Ocean Views recently featured an article about the Global Reef Expedition's mission to Palau. The article is written by Keith Ellenbogen, Senior Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) and member of the Palau mission science team.

National Geographic Voices – Ocean Views recently featured an article about the Global Reef Expedition‘s mission to Palau. The article is written by Keith Ellenbogen, Senior Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) and member of the Palau mission science team.

The Global Reef Expedition: Palau

National Geographic – Voices
March 10, 2015
By Keith Ellenbogen

Aerial: Seventy Islands or Ngerukewid Islands, Palau — Aerial view of Seventy Islands or Ngerukewid Islands, Palau. The Ngerukewid Islands or Seventy Islands are Palau’s iconic island landscape symbolizing pristine beauty. The Islands were in part formed from limestone of accent coral reefs and coral uprisings. The Rock Islands are a World Heritage Site since 2012.

“Palau’s Archipelago — A Nation of Islands and Reefs
As part of the third iLCP Expedition organized with the Khaled Bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF), I joined a team of scientists to explore the marine environment in the Pacific archipelago of Palau. The KSLOF is conducting currently one of the largest coral reef studies in history. Called the Global Reef Expedition, it is circumnavigating the globe surveying some of the most remote reefs on the planet, and iLCP photographers have joined them on a few keys stops to help document their finds. Recently iLCP’s Michele Westmorland joined them in French Polynesia, and Jürgen Freund in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It’s now my turn to hop aboard the M/Y Golden Shadow to explore the reefs of Palau…”

From Mangrove Mud to Meaningful Work: Desta’s J.A.M.I.N. Journey

Some students I remember for their grades, their quick answers, or a moment that made the whole class laugh. Others I remember for the way they stepped into the mangroves.

Desta was the kind of student who thrived outdoors. While some students hesitated at the edge of the mud, he walked right in. And when he inevitably got stuck — because everyone does — he didn’t get frustrated. He laughed. Covered in mud, holding mangrove propagules in his hands, he embraced the experience fully.

Even then, it was clear that he was connecting with the environment in a way that went beyond the lesson plan…

From Students to Stewards: A Full-Circle Moment for J.A.M.I.N.

There are certain faces you never forget.

Over the years, hundreds of students have stepped into mangrove forests with us through the Jamaica Awareness of Mangroves in Nature (J.A.M.I.N.) program. I may not always remember every name, but I remember the expressions — the hesitation before stepping into thick mud, the laughter when someone loses a shoe, the look of surprise when they catch that unmistakable sulfur smell rising from the mangrove soil…

The Global Reef Expedition: Palau

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From Mangrove Mud to Meaningful Work: Desta’s J.A.M.I.N. Journey

From Students to Stewards: A Full-Circle Moment for J.A.M.I.N.