Inspiring and Educating Hawaii’s Future Generations

September 13, 2022

IBSS is committed to making a positive environmental impact and also to education. With this in mind, we wanted to share this article from our partner Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project (PMDP) and note that PMDP staff are contracted through IBSS.


Aloha Teachers and Educators!

I’m reaching out to you on behalf of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project (PMDP), a Hawaii-based nonprofit organization that was created to protect the sensitive wildlife and critical habitats of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM), Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, from the threats of marine debris (www.pmdphawaii.org).

Our primary objective is to conduct large-scale marine debris removal expeditions at the remote islands and atolls within the Monument, with annual goals of removing 200,000 pounds of marine debris as we clean and restore the reefs and beaches. To accomplish this, we embark on two 30-day cruises on a 185-foot ship, the M/V Imua. We recently returned from our first trip of the year, and our team of 16 specialized freedivers removed 97,295 pounds of marine debris. The second cruise of our season is scheduled for September 15-October 13.

As part of our goal to inspire and educate Hawaii’s future generations in the stewardship and care of the Monument, we are looking to partner with teachers and educators to provide access to the work that we do, and to interact with us along the way. This can be achieved by following our at-sea expeditions online via an interactive story map (https://www.pmdphawaii.org/follow-the-journey) or on social media (Twitter and Instagram: @pmdphawaii). We will use these platforms to share photos and videos of each workday, to allow you to virtually follow our journey in real time as we move through the Monument. Then, as an option to further engage, we welcome questions sent through email (to: info@pmdphawaii.org), which we will do our best to respond to in a timely manner. Upon returning to Honolulu on October 13, we would welcome the opportunity to conduct school visits and in-person outreach and education.

If you are interested, need more information, or have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to us at info@pmdphawaii.org (cc: james@pmdphawaii.org). If you know of any other interested parties, please feel free to forward them this email, or reach out to me so that I can add them to the listserv.

Below are some recent articles covering our first expedition to Papahānaumokuākea:

Mahalo, and we hope to hear from you,

PMDP

tags: PMDP

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