Earthwatch Award Recipient Summary
Awardees: Katherine LaCommare and Caryn Self Sullivan
Affiliation: University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Texas A&M University
Project: Manatees in Belize
Award: 2003 Young Scientist Award
Project Synopsis
Caryn Self Sullivan and Katherine LaCommare are collecting data on the distribution, habitat, and behavior of manatees in Belize, the last stronghold for the Antillean subspecies of this unique marine mammal. Although Florida manatees are well-studied, scientists in this developing country are just beginning to understand the nature and extent of threats to manatees here, which include boat strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, harassment, and habitat loss. Earthwatch teams are helping Self Sullivan and LaCommare conduct manatee surveys, identify and follow individual animals, survey habitat types, and collect environmental data. There findings are not only revealing the unique ecology of the Antillean subspecies, such as migratory behavior associated with the mating season, but will help assess the growing impact of human activities in the area before it is too late.
Award Outcomes
The Young Scientist Award allowed Self Sullivan and LaCommare to:
· Install and maintain a satellite internet system for their remote field station
A DirectWay internet satellite dish installed at the field station on Spanish Lookout Caye, Belize has been a boon to the effectiveness of field research there. The Young Scientist award paid for the installation as well as monthly service fees, allowing LaCommare and Self Sullivan and their Earthwatch teams to stay in touch with the outside world. The new system enables them to develop a stronger educational outreach component to their project, with expanded updates to their website from the field and newsletters to their former volunteers. It also allows more regular communications with their academic advisors, colleagues, and, as they complete their PhDs, students.
Perhaps most importantly, the satellite internet system also enables Self-Sullivan and LaCommare to back-up their irreplaceable data to other locations, in the event of a computer failure or natural disaster at Spanish Lookout Caye. It also allows them to work on and submit publications, to better communicate with collaborators, in order to expedite the dissemination of their data. Finally, the scientists are able to respond quickly to local stranding events, all from their remote field site. The system has brought Self Sullivan and LaCommare's research project into the 21st century, and will help them apply their data more effectively toward education and conservation.
Publications and Papers
Pending
Quotes
"We are extremely grateful to Earthwatch and the donor who provided us with this award."
"Thanks to hundreds of hours of observations by Earthwatch volunteers, we now have an emerging picture of how manatees use our study area, an area increasingly impacted by tourism and recreational boaters," said Self Sullivan.
"It's wonderful that our volunteers are able to take the message of conservation science back to their workplace and share it with so many other folks. It's a great feeling to be part of something as far-reaching as the Earthwatch Institute. If we could somehow bottle the energy, knowledge, and enthusiasm generated by our Earthwatch team members and dispense it as a tonic to the masses, we could solve all the world's problems!"
"When I started this project, my goal was to gather enough data to complete my Ph.D. dissertation and leave Belize decision makers with a clear picture of how manatees use the Drowned Cayes area. But, the project has enabled me to affect sirenian conservation on a global scale. Thanks to the encouragement and support of the Earthwatch Institute, we have become part of an international network of specialists dedicated to manatee and dugong conservation around the world."