Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

The aim of this project was to start a relationship and initiate dialogue between Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and those responsible for management in Kiribati. As one of the foremost oceanographic research institutes in the world, SIO is widely renowned for its sound science and innovative approaches to research across the globe. With that credibility and global perspective comes a unique opportunity for that science to become relevant, and to be directly applied to management and conservation decisions that are made for marine ecosystems around the world. For this Capstone, the author dedicated a year to initiating contact with key management and conservation partners in Kiribati and testing the viability of a partnership whereby SIO plays a scientific advisory role to support their management initiatives. The product of this Capstone was three-fold: creating those personal relationships and building trust with key organizations in Kiribati and with their partners, developing a userguide for SIO’s continued engagement with Kiribati, and conceptualizing the future of these types of scientific-application partnerships for SIO.