What inspired you to work for Blue Corner Marine Research?
When I was conducting my thesis research on coral restoration during grad school many friends always asked me if they could join on the dives to help out... which was the start of the idea for Blue Corner. I wanted to create an organization where people could participate in active conservation and coral restoration work.
Describe a typical day at work.
Our boat and dive crew start early each morning preparing and loading the diveboats with all the equipment we will need for the day. Then we do briefings with students and make a plan for our underwater work. We spend the mornings out at the various dive sites around Nusa Penida Marine Park then back to land for lunch. After lunch our biologists spent time with students in the classroom going through information about coral reefs and data analysis. We finish the day with a nice sunset on the beach directly in front of Blue Corner.
Andrew teaching scientific diver interns
Why do you do what you do?
Many coral reefs are being degraded and I can't just watch it happen without attempting to do something to help! Seeing areas of reef which we restored come back to life is the most fulfilling part of the job. I hope to provide opportunities for more and more people to help restore reefs as well as establish their own coral reef restoration projects around the world.
What is your favorite part of your job?
I like when students and interns come back to dive with us to see the corals they planted in previous years now flourishing on the reef. Being underwater with the fish and coral is my favorite place, so I showed others the reef. We can dive the same site thousands of times and it will be different each time - that's the nature of a healthy reef!
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
My educational background is restoration ecology of marine ecosystems and use that for guiding our coral restoration projects. I have also developed the education curriculum for our coral restoration practitioner and reef health monitoring programs and continuously adapt our program offerings to incorporate emerging research.
What challenges do you often face, and how do you overcome them?
Working on a remote island comes with logistical challenges, but finding creative ways to overcome these challenges is the fun part! We constantly look for ways to improve our programs and facilities to provide the best experiences for students. We also aim to provide respectable employment opportunities for local Indonesians, so fostering a fun and supportive atmosphere with our team is important to us.
Working at the coral nursery
What are some current projects you are working on?
We are currently expanding our coral restoration efforts to a new site in Nusa Lembongan. This site will be used as a template and learning site for training coral restoration practitioners in Indonesia and abroad. We have developed standardized monitoring protocols and partnerships with Indonesian universities to ensure project success.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Be open to opportunities as they present themselves. As you travel and meet people you will be presented with opportunities for all kinds of adventures and life paths. When you find something you enjoy doing, embrace it, because passion is what gets us up in the morning. Learn as you go, not everything needs to be.
What makes your organization special?
The people. Many of our team have been with us for over a decade, we all rely on each other both within the organization and in day-to-day life. We believe in providing opportunities and training local professionals so that they can feel proud to work at Blue Corner. Our team is diverse, accepting and supportive of one another.
Why should someone choose Blue Corner Marine Research over competitors?
Our conservation programs are guided by scientific principles, so participants can know that the projects they take part in are actually making a difference. Participants gain useful knowledge and skills as well as recognized certifications. A portion of the funds from the program tuition goes to supporting Blue Corner's scholarship fund for Indonesian women to train as dive guides and coral restoration practitioners.
Loading the diveboats in the morning at Blue Corner in Nusa Lembongan, Bali
What hopes do you have for the future of your organization?
In the future we will be expanding our programs to additional areas beyond Bali. We aim to provide internationally recognized training in coral restoration techniques and collaborate with additional organizations to improve the state of reefs world-wide. We hope to inspire an army of marine conservationists to tackle the earth's environmental problems.
Are there any developments with your organization that you would like to share with us?
We are starting to incorporate more and more novel technologies and emerging research into our coral restoration efforts. Some of our recent studies are gathering sound recordings from the reef using underwater hydrophones to compare the coral restoration site with healthy and unrestored reefs. We will be able to see if reef sound can be used as a metric for measuring coral restoration success.
What makes your organization easy to market to potential participants?
I often get messages from previous participants eager to share how their life path has progressed since joining our programs. Our Blue Corner team of marine conservationists have gone on to many prestigious and important roles around the world. I love seeing the familiar faces of previous students presenting at international conferences and leading conservation projects.
What is your organization's mission, and how do you continue to work toward it?
Our mission is to enable passionate people to improve the state of the marine environment. The more participants who join our programs the more capacity we create to restore degraded ecosystems and educate communities on improved environmental management. Through our team we can spread this message and work together.
Reef monitoring with research student at the coral restoration site
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
A foundation of knowledge in marine conservation as well as a network of colleagues who are equally as passionate. We hope that participants can feel part of a conservation community that supports each other in whatever future projects we embark upon. Participants will also develop the skills required to tackle some of the important issues concerning ocean health.
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
The world (and especially the ocean) are interconnected. Fish, plankton and droplets of water travel freely between areas, and the more we understand the connectivity of nature, then we also see that all people and cultures are interconnected. Best friends, colleagues and partnerships emerge between all corners of the world when we are open to experiencing new cultures and travelling.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
When we travel somewhere new we take many things from the area - both good and bad. We take memories, new friendships, and a deeper understanding of other cultures. But we also have an impact of increased pressure on resources of an area. Therefore it is important for us to give back to the area we travel to. We can give back by helping a community and the surrounding environment.
