Staff Interview with James Troughton

What is the Tobacco Caye Marine Station mission, and how do you continue to work toward it?

Tobacco Caye Marine Station is a marine-based research and education centre based in Belize that offers immersive learning opportunities for study abroad groups worldwide from various organisations, including universities, colleges, high schools, and elementary schools. Since 2009, the station has hosted approximately 500 students annually, which engage with experiential learning in the marine environment.

Our mission is to enable study abroad students from Belize and around the world to participate in the immersive experiential learning opportunities of the marine environment on the second largest Barrier reef in the world, while working to preserve marine protected areas of Belize.

Based within one of Belize’s largest marine protected areas, the South Water Caye Marine Reserve, we are well placed to conduct surveys and monitoring about the quality and biodiversity of fish and corals within the reserve. We share this information with coral watch authorities, both local and worldwide. The station is the island’s centre for conservation, harvesting our own rainwater with the ability to filter it into drinking water, being fully self-sufficient by using solar panels, and recycling all organic food waste to produce compost. The station works in collaboration with the Belize Fisheries Department and other local authorities.

What inspired you to work for Tobacco Caye Marine Station?

I am very passionate about working for non-profits; I like that they are working to help improve a variety of causes much bigger than themselves. Tobacco Caye Marine Station charges student groups to take part in our educational programs and then uses those funds to contribute to our monitoring projects, which assess the health of our local marine environment. 

The location of Tobacco Caye Marine Station is right on top of the Belize Barrier Reef, which is a stunning location and one that is still not heavily frequented by tourists, meaning there is a lot of natural beauty which hasn't been spoiled. 

The chance of creating projects which the station and students can collaborate on and show that it doesn't matter how many people you have, everyone can make a difference by working together. 

Describe a typical day at work for you.

When student groups are on the island, itineraries can range from 24 hours to 10 day programs. These itineraries are always bespoke and we are proud to offer a tailored service, not a cookie cutter method of education at Tobacco Caye Marine Station. 

A typical day would include breakfast at 8:00 a.m. at our partner lodge, then being on the boat at 9:00 a.m. ready for a full day snorkel. We would visit sites, such as a local island which is a bird sanctuary, snorkel the prop roots of the red mangrove, and then experience a huge variety of colourful reef fish on patch and forereef sites. Then after a filling lunch it's time for more snorkeling!

Normally we would return to the island at approximately 3:30 p.m., when the students would enjoy free time and a game of volleyball until dinner. After dinner we all get ready for one of the most exciting parts of any day, which is the night snorkel! If the group chooses not to do a night snorkel then we would run an educational lecture on a certain aspect of the marine environment. 

Why do you do what you do?

I love my job, and I do it to help inspire the next generation of marine scientists who will be at the forefront of protecting and managing our global marine environment. 

I extremely enjoy being outdoors and not being confined to a desk. Every day I appreciate being surrounded by nature and the knowledge that we are all working to make little changes, that together will have a profound and positive impact on our local marine environment. I also love teaching and getting to know students from around the world, from middle school to university level. Our study abroad program often help to shape a student's future plans, from sparking an interest in the ocean to choosing to study marine biology as a major in college.

What makes Tobacco Caye Marine Station’s programs easy to market to potential participants?

Our location and dedication to bespoke immersive learning makes Tobacco Caye Marine Station an easy choice for groups considering a marine focused education program in Belize. 

We believe in running affordable programs and because we are a not-for-profit organisation, any revenue we do make goes into funding meaningful projects with the goal of improving and monitoring our local marine environment. 

How do you help support participants throughout their stay?

We support participants in two ways, through the Business Manager, who assists with all groups logistical queries before arrival to Tobacco Caye Marine Station, and a Station Manager, who is the host and with the group 24/7 to answer and address any questions whilst on the island or on excursions. 

What is your favorite part about your job?

Inspiring and igniting passion in students of all ages from 10-60 years old about the wonders beneath the surface and the significance and biodiversity of the local marine environment at Tobacco Caye. I also love sharing knowledge with the student groups that visit and where everyone unites around one cause, which is to protect and help improve our local marine environment. 

Another favourite of mine is being able to visit a number of snorkel sites throughout the year, which allows me to become familiar with the reef and its local residents who are all unique. 

What are some of the current projects you are working on?

We have started several projects in the past two years at Tobacco Caye Marine Station that student groups can either participate in or build projects off of the data we have collected. 

We are running a coral disease and bleaching monitoring project in coordination with the Coral Watch authority based in Australia. Using their colour charts, we collect data on the extent of bleaching across a variety of sites that we visit. 

Lionfish are an invasive species here in Belize and are very harmful to the native reef fish population. We actively cull them and collect size and dissection data in order to identify feeding habits and population dispersal. 

The project we are most proud of is our reef clean project, where groups participate in removing trash that has washed up on the barrier reef crest from the Caribbean Sea. This project is very impactful for students and we have now partnered with the Marine Debris Tracker to log all of the items we remove from the reef crest. 

Finally, we also collect data on seawater chemistry to monitor parameters, such as pH, temperature, nitrate, and ammonia levels, so we can understand the health of Tobacco Caye's local marine environment.

What do you hope participants take away from your programs?

We hope they learn about the different components to our local marine environment and how each compliments each other in order to provide a very biodiverse ecosystem. We hope that students learn simple methods that they can implement, either at home or on their travels around the world, to better become conservation stewards. The methods we hope they will learn are being conservative with water and electricity usage, better waste management, and litter awareness, as well as switching to a reef safe sunscreen brand. 

What does meaningful travel mean to you?

My interpretation of meaningful travel encompasses learning about the country you are visiting, respecting local cultures and wildlife, and contributing positively to that location. Always trying to buy local to support the local people and looking for sustainable practices whilst travelling, such as eco lodges and travelling slowly to avoid flights where possible.

Meaningful travel has a purpose which goes above taking the location you are visiting for granted; you should want to get off the beaten track and genuinely show an interest in the area and all it has to offer.

Why do you believe it is important for people to travel abroad?

Belize is a developing country with a population of approximately 400,000, which is the size of some large Western cities. Travelling to a country like Belize opens students to wealth of knowledge, such as the historical Mayan heritage and the Garifuna culture, particularly apparent in Dangriga and Southern Belize. It is important to travel in order to experience new environments, such as the reef and rainforest. We are lucky as Belize has a wealth of natural beauty. Our planet is a finite resource and if more people knew of its beauty and significance, then more people would be inspired to do something to protect it for future generations.

What advice do you have for individuals thinking about going abroad?

Just do it! You should embrace the unknown, and try new experiences and learn new things. This will help you become a more well rounded person and help you in so many ways in life and your future career.