Dr. John Claydon, Director of the School for Field Studies (SFS) Center for Marine Resource Studies in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), is no stranger to experiential learning. For the past three years, he has been a guiding force for semester students who study complex development issues through the lens of a plastic diving mask in the depths of an underwater classroom as well as through the eyes of local community partners. Claydon joined the SFS faculty in 2005 from Papua New Guinea, where he applied his research on coral reefs to local conservation initiatives as well as teaching high school students about the marine environment. Equipped with a Ph.D. in Marine Biology and unwavering enthusiasm, he served as an Ecology Lecturer until his natural leadership abilities earned him a promotion to Center Director in July of 2008.

Two months later, Mother Nature tested Claydon's leadership abilities as well as the resolve of the Islands' 30,000 inhabitants by hitting TCI with Hurricane Ike several days before the start of the fall '08 semester. The storm caused no injuries or deaths but devastated the households and livelihoods of many islanders. The poor were the hardest-hit, due to living in weak structures and difficulty paying for repairs. However, as Claydon reports, “Life is hard for most people in the TCI. Many still don't have roofs and too many don't have any house left at all.” The Center for Marine Resource Studies also suffered its fair share of structural damages as well as the loss of its compressor, boats, and conch shells, which had been deployed in an experiment to assess the increase of juvenile lobster and grouper in sea grass. Consequently, Claydon advised the cancellation of the semester program to address the needs of the greater community while simultaneously overhauling SFS's operations in preparation for next semester.

After the storm, Claydon observed a cohesive community spirit among the islanders, who worked well together in a time of adversity. As SFS has a nineteen-year relationship with TCI community members, the Center's first priority was to support those who were in trouble by donating food, and faculty member Dr. Catherine Jadot and Site Manager Tim Lyons volunteered their time to assist in the distribution of food at the emergency shelter. The last hurricane of this magnitude was fifty years ago, so few islanders had any real understanding of such a storm's ravages and were consequently unprepared. Faculty member Dr. Richard Plate and researcher Marta Calosso prepared a presentation for local primary school children about the effects of hurricanes on the land and sea, while future SFS semester students will receive an undergraduate level lecture. Claydon says, “There is now a much stronger understanding, commitment and motivation to making the TCI better prepared.”

Claydon is using this opportunity work with faculty members to revamp the Center's curriculum as well as the site's infrastructure. In addition to lecturing on hurricanes, the curriculum will compensate for its lost conch shells by redesigning parts of the courses to increase the amount of time spent in the field. Claydon says, “We also intend to give students a greater opportunity to make more practical contributions during their time here with a number of projects being developed that combine learning and data collection with activities designed to make a positive difference.” Some of these projects include the removal of invasive species and the construction of artificial reefs. These few months have also given Claydon an opportunity to carry out major repairs and renovations at the Center. These will be completed by January of 2009, with the addition of a new compressor and boats for an improved and rigorous spring semester.

Experiential learning certainly occurs when one overcomes the most adverse conditions and emerges stronger. This philosophy is at the core of SFS, an organization that has allowed Claydon “to develop and learn in ways that other jobs may not have.”

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