Three Hawaii Preparatory Academy students will travel to Peru to present their projects Feb. 29 to March 4 during the 36th annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.
Three Hawaii Preparatory Academy students will travel to Peru to present their projects Feb. 29 to March 4 during the 36th annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.
The students, senior Elizabeth Jim and eighth-graders JuliaAnn Salvador and Anna Sorensen, will be among the youngest presenters at the event. Marc Rice, director of HPA’s Sea Turtle Research Program, and Laura Jim, middle school science teacher, are accompanying the students.
The symposium encourages discussion, debate and the sharing of knowledge, research techniques and lessons in conservation to address questions about the biology and conservation of sea turtles and their habitats.
“These three young ladies have worked hard to produce two projects that are very important and worth sharing with the world through the symposium and published proceedings,” Rice said.
Since its inception, HPA’s Sea Turtle Research Program has provided students in grades 6-12 opportunities to participate in unique field research projects, which have included 249 tagging trips around Hawaii Island where more than 3,900 honu have been captured, tagged, measured and safely released.
Salvador and Sorenson, who started working with the program in seventh grade, will present “HPA/NOAA: A Successful Collaborative Program Spanning Twenty-Nine Years,” which focuses on the school’s partnership and work with NOAA and scientist George Balazs.
The students also will share information about the program’s community outreach initiatives and independent student research focused on the biology of Hawaii’s green and hawksbill turtles, and the school’s participation in the Hawaii Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network.
“I’m really looking forward to the overall experience of presenting at an international symposium,” Sorenson said.
“I’m ecstatic about going to Peru,” Salvador said. “It’s amazing to be able to do this in eighth grade.”
Elizabeth Jim will present “Na Honu O Kahaluu: A Community-Based Research Project,” which focuses on the Kahaluu Bay Education Center and its ReefTeach program.
“The turtles at Kahaluu Bay are more friendly than turtles in other areas of the island,” Jim said. “The interesting thing about this program is how the Kahaluu Bay Education Center uses community volunteers to help achieve their goals.”