Let the Adventure Begin

Excited to say that today I will begin my travels to Southeast Asia in order to pursue my future career in Marine Biology and Sustainability. For the next few months I will be a marine conservation intern for Tengah Island Conservation, a nonprofit marine conservation organization located off the coast of Malaysia.  I will be working alongside other interns gaining practical work experience through turtle hatchling conservation, data collection from coral reef & fish surveys, coral nursery maintenance, and beach & underwater clean-ups. I will then be traveling to Nusa Penida, a Marine Protected Area island off the coast of Bali, Indonesia to become a marine research intern for the marine and conservation program the IndoOcean Project.  Here I will be obtaining my DiveMaster scuba certification through Nomads Diving while focusing on manta ray conservation, coral nursery development and restoration, BRUVs and shark ecology, and mangrove restoration. Posts soon to come!

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 29, 2019 at 11:03 AM

    Hi Hallie, It's Lisa Segal. We met a long time ago. Your parents were my first friends when I moved to Portland and I am so grateful for that. I will be watching your adventures as my daughter, Emma, is doing a similar thing to you in Thailand. Your birthday's are close together and you met once as babies. Have a wonderful time and perhaps you two will connect ♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hallie RepetaAugust 30, 2019 at 5:58 AM

      I would love to! I have a few weeks off in-between my internships when I will be backpacking around Southeast Asia, maybe we can meet up!

      Delete
  2. RepsAugust 29, 2019 at 7:48 PM

    Welcome to the World....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coral Reef Conservation

Image
Another main focus of the TIC team is coral reef conservation.   Although coral reefs cover less than 0.1% of the ocean floor, they support 25% of marine life.   Corals are the building blocks of coral reefs, and provide nurseries, shelter, and habitats for an abundant number of species. Unfortunately, corals themselves are currently facing a variety of threats, such as global warming, water pollution, overfishing, mass tourism, invasive species and much more.  The coral reefs surrounding Palau Tengah are beautiful and lively, and the more information the team has on the health and abundance of the reefs, the more prepared we are to protect them. We will be trained in the TIC team’s coral reef conservation program, which involves coral reef monitoring, coral nursery management and restoration.   The coral reef monitoring will involve conducting various scuba diving activities including fish surveys, invertebrate surveys, substrate surveys, underwater cleanu...
Read more

Indigenous Tree Nursery

Image
In addition to the coral nursery and sea turtle hatchery, we also maintain an indigenous tree nursery.  Along with their common ecological benefits, trees are especially important on islands due to their natural coastal protection benefits.  The rising sea levels and the increasing intensity and amount of natural disasters due to global warming results in small islands becoming even more vulnerable to erosion and flooding, a problem I have seen firsthand here on Palau Tengah.  Not only does beach erosion damage property, but it also destroys natural nesting beaches for sea turtles.  Erosion and sediment runoff can not only be damaging to an island, but to the coral reef ecosystems directly around an island as well. Increased sedimentation in the water blocks the sunlight from reaching the corals, which prevents the corals from being able to photosynthesis and eventually can lead to coral bleaching and death. Since coral reefs act as a barrier during natural disaste...
Read more