Academic News
With academic classes and final exams behind them, the students have been focusing on their Directed Research projects. It is now time to put all the knowledge that they have gained over the past 10 weeks into action, addressing some of the local ecological and social problems. The teachings and research conducted at the Center focus on the burgeoning tourism industry, and preparing the local community for the changes associated with shifting from a traditional fishing based economy to one based on tourism. The data gathered and reports produced by the students are used to assist the local government Department of the Environment and Coastal Resources in managing marine resources in the TCI.

Days are spent in the water quantifying reef communities, Nassau Grouper populations, following fish spawning aggregations, quantifying local fisheries, or qualtifying waste production and disposal. Sean, Chelsie, and Katie explain the projects in more detail below. Much of this research is providing essential baselines prior to the onset of tourism on South Caicos. The baselines that the students are collecting will enable the identification of critical habitats and quantification of change during this period of transition. Hopefully the data will be used effectively to help mitigate any negative impacts and to ensure that the beautiful marine environment around South Caicos is preserved for others to enjoy.
- Dr. Steve Newman, Center Director

Student Reflections
Data collection for our directed research projects is in full swing. Students working under the guidance of Dr. Catherine Jadot have a choice between two projects: baseline surveying of a coral reef marked for development, or gathering data on fin fish dock landings to assess the state of this burgeoning fishery. Our group is working on the second project which involves waiting dockside each day—usually late afternoon—as fishing boats return with their catches. Most fishermen harvest conch this time of year and fin fish are simply by-catch. As we wait, it is quite interesting to see the sheer amount of conch brought to the docks, watch the men and women prepare it for export, and listen to the friendly banter between fishing boats. This industry has been an integral part of South Caicos for years, and we are catching glimpses of this lifestyle that simply cannot be taught in lectures.

Not all of the boats return fishless, however. Sometimes fishermen will specifically target fin fish—mainly gray snapper and Nassau grouper—and bring back coolers full of "data." Twice now, deep-sea fishing boats have returned from 7-13 day excursions with massive catches, including giant grouper, snapper, and a few sharks! At the end of the day we are usually covered in slime, fish scales, and bits of guts. Nonetheless, we are having a GREAT time and can already tell our data will be extremely useful for fisheries managers to make the most informed decisions possible.
- Sean Landsman, University of Illinois

It has been a very busy two weeks. Dr. Richard Plate is running three different ventures which students chose to work on. One of the projects pertains to the surveying of "Belongers" (as the locals refer to themselves) in order to ascertain local feelings on the idea of the growing tourism industry on South Caicos. Most Belongers have friends and family living in Provo and Grand Turk, so they have seen the changes in culture and dynamics of those islands which already have large tourism industries. It is interesting to see how people feel about the coming tourism, especially because South Caicos is such a small island. The increase in people and traffic on the island will be very different in a couple of years.

Another project is interviewing the fishermen to assess prominent members of the fishing community, as well as determine feelings and opinions they have about the status of the South Caicos fishery. The fishermen have been extremely open to the questions and issues raised by Kate, the student interviewing them. The knowledge they possess about the sea surrounding the island is amazing, and in many cases handed down from generation to generation.

The last group of students working with Richard is interviewing store owners and other individuals about waste disposal. Currently trash is disposed of in a dump and then burned. There is no means of recycling, though it would greatly diminish the amount of trash collected on the Island. These are social science based studies which have given us a great opportunity to interact with the community and really gain an understanding of their views on important issues facing their everyday lives.
- Katie Cummings, Quinnipiac College

For our Directed Research, six of us spend our days studying the grouper and blue tang with Dr. John Claydon and our Norwegian intern Siri. Every morning we jump in the saltwater pool to practice estimating the size of model fish underwater. Then we grab our gear, lather on sunscreen, and load onto the boat. Along the East side of Long Cay we take turns diving in pairs. One person frantically notes the size and type of all of the groupers on an underwater slate while the other helps point out fish, which can prove tricky under 60 feet of water. Waiting on the boat, we entertain ourselves with any game we can make up amongst sunbathing and chatting. After lunch and a few hours of rest—once we finally feel dry—we jump back in the water to look for grouper while keeping our distance from large barracudas.

As the day cools off and the sun sinks lower, we head back to the deeper water and get the rest of our daily exercise following John. With deep breaths, we adventure down under the rolling waves to catch closer glimpses of blue tang as they begin to aggregate. Watching them come together in groups sometimes as large as 200 is quite impressive, but the best is yet to come. As we are shivering in our wetsuits from three hours in the water, the blue tang shoot up from the depths in small groups, releasing their gametes like underwater fireworks. We take a GPS coordinate of the now confirmed spawning aggregation, pull ourselves into the boat, and speed home with hopes of catching the end of dinner. Spending so much time together, we feel a bit like a family with Papa John, Auntie Siri, and us, their DRlings.  
- Chelsie Wagner, Elon University

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