Offered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Research Experience for Graduates (REG) grant provides supplemental funding to support the cost of a “Cultural Anthropology student’s closely monitored but independent research experience.” Earlier this month, PhD student Chelsea Hunter (advisor: Mark Moritz) received one of these grants.

Chelsea’s project, Ridge-to-Reef Systems and Conservation in New Caledonia, aims to “understand how indigenous Pacific Islanders and conservation scientists comprehend ridge-to-reef systems differently and how these differences lead to practices that variously affect ridge-to-reef dynamics. Ridge-to-reef management is an integrated land-sea management system which seeks to curb the effects of land-based pollutants that affect coral reef health. Ridge-to-reef management is increasingly used throughout the Pacific to address the widespread degradation of coral reefs. However, ridge-to-reef, as a traditional Pacific Islander practice, is an integrated social-ecological system that is regulated through spiritual and political systems that are explicitly environmentally linked. This research project combines perspectives from ontology with a complex adaptive systems framework in order to analyze how both Pacific Islanders and conservation scientists comprehend and contribute to ridge-to-reef dynamics in New Caledonia.”

Congratulations, Chelsea!