Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

In 2012, the Waitt Institute began developing the Barbudan Blue Halo Initiative in collaboration with the local government and island community. The Waitt Institute provided the toolkits and resources, and the Barbudan community provided motivation and the commitment to make responsible and sustainable ocean policy decisions that

will support coastal and fishing livelihoods. In August of 2014, based on the scientific research and community interviews conducted by the Waitt Institute and its partners, the Barbudan Council formally signed new legislation to protect the island’s territorial fishing grounds. This collaboration with the Waitt Institute to help develop the education toolkit for the Blue Halo implementation plan. These materials are tailored to the island’s school system and resources are developed for primary school fifth and sixth graders. They are based on the existing curriculum and science standards set by the Organization of Easter Caribbean States (OECS), and use best-practices experiential teaching techniques developed by SEACAMP San Diego. The lessons were developed after an observation period on Barbuda where I discussed the needs and goals of the school system with the local headmistress and worked with

a sixth-grade class to assess the students’ level of understanding for core marine science principles. They take key concepts from the island’s current science curriculum and integrate them into new lessons that use a holistic teaching approach favoring hands-on activities and student interaction over the traditional lecture and note-taking format.