Sections

In this course we will examine the challenges associated with managing and conserving marine biodiversity using aspects of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) as the focus of several case studies (see http://hawaiireef.noaa.gov/welcome.html). These case studies will include the conservation of endangered species at Midway, including monk seals, sea turtles and a variety of breeding seabirds. We will also be addressing conservation issues that face the Monument including marine debris and climate change. The Monument, established in June 2006, is the largest marine conservation area in the world, encompassing an area larger than all the country's national parks combined.

The course will be taught entirely in Hawaii. The first three days of the class will be spent on Oahu, meeting with various stakeholders together with scientists and managers who work for the three agencies that co-manage the Monument (NOAA, USFWS and the state of Hawaii). The next nine days will be spent on Midway Atoll, part of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, where we will work with biologists and managers from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and see first-hand the challenges of implementing the Monument.

Class Schedule

The class is scheduled during Block A; we will meet each day from January17th to January 31st. Students are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to and from Honolulu. Students should arrive in Honolulu on January 16th and plan to depart no earlier than the evening of January 31st We will travel to Midway as a group on a chartered jet. We will be staying at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (http://www.ewc.hawaii.edu) whilst on Oahu and at USFWS facilities on Midway Atoll (http://www.fws.gov/midway/).

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Maps of the area
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Papahānaumokuākea

Midway