This week, while browsing literature to better understand my project, I saw a banner for a Chemistry World webinar about marine chemistry in the context of global warming. As it happened to be outside of working hours, I attended and learned from Dr. Mariana Bif & Dr. Clare Ostle about automated sensing and large scale data collection and interpretation, and how biological variables serve as indicators for increasing warming. The webinar was serendipitous, as it gave new context to my project, and how field-friendly data monitoring methods could complement globally-relevant datasets. By developing solutions on land, we can better understand the ocean which seems so inaccessible from an office or a lab.
However, as I concluded the theory-based section of my project, I was struck by the stark contrast between this approach and what was required for my practical work this week. At the beginning, I co-lead a reef restoration activity, but the buoy we had used to identify the site had been removed, so we spent over an hour scouring the region to find the underwater coral nursery. Eventually, we asked a local captain familiar with the NGO and the site, who navigated us there with ease. Later in the week, I assisted with the construction of two sea cucumber farm pens, which was partially inhibited by materials transport and sediment roughness. Site selection was not informed solely by the variables I am researching, but also by accessibility to build the structure. Both examples highlighted how regardless of literature basis, regional familiarity may trump poring over maps or articles.
Rather than be discouraged by the apparent insignificance of studying theory, it showed me the power of combining lived experience and reviewing literature. Models, datasets, and research questions point us in the right direction for progress, and experiential knowledge can influence implementation in a particular setting. The balance ensures previous work is not repeated, while accommodating local knowledge which may not have been documented because it is innate to the community living there.
This is especially true regarding sea cucumber aquaculture in Zanzibar. Sea cucumbers are not eaten widely in Zanzibar, but exported to external markets; consequently, foreign organizations establish farms without understanding the dynamics between the people, ocean, and sea cucumbers themselves. Narrow-minded push for economic gain, or surface-level conservation, serve neither the livelihoods nor the species they purport to protect. Literature and personal accounts both show that farms often fail when there is a disjunction between land-dwelling farmers and marine life – a disjunction which is not present for many fishers who have split lifetimes between land and sea, and understand what is necessary for a beneficial harvest and a healthy environment to foster it. Through the lens of ethical engagement, it is apparent that the wants and needs of both researchers and local communities must be shared, but this is also true of research: only through contributions and teaching from both sides can mutual progress be achieved.
As I cross the halfway threshold for my LiA, I transition from striving to understand to striving to enact. Many of the other volunteers are leaving over the coming weeks, and my supervisor is returning from leave, creating a natural environment of change. With new responsibilities in leading activities and collecting practical data, I feel challenged to employ the leadership and character traits which have been incubated by the Laidlaw program over the last year. Like with the flow of information, a feedback loop must be generated between laying groundwork of values and implementing them. While perhaps not as comprehensive as the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey discussed in the webinar, I hope that the data I have gained will serve as a launchpad for impact, both internally and externally.