WASHINGTON, D.C. (2024 February 29) – With the environmental risks of mining the deep sea already well documented, a new report provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the extent to which the industry is economically viable, revealing its unrealistic financial models, technological challenges and poor market prospects that gravely undermine its potential for profit. 

Released as the U.S. government considers engaging in deep-sea mining in domestic waters and in advance of a much-anticipated meeting of the International Seabed Authority (March 18-29) — the body tasked with regulating deep-sea mining in the international high seas — the study lays out the risks of investing in an unproven extractive industry gearing up to commercially produce a nonrenewable resource with unknown and increasingly apparent environmental, sociocultural and economic implications.

“When it comes to deep sea mining, investors should be on high alert and undertake robust due diligence,” said Bobbi-Jo Dobush of the Ocean Foundation and one of the authors of the report, Deep Seabed Mining Isn’t Worth the Financial Risk. “Trying to mine minerals from the ocean floor is an unproven industrial endeavor fraught with technical, financial, and regulatory uncertainty. More so, the industry faces strong Indigenous opposition and human rights concerns. All of these factors add up to substantial potential financial and legal risks for both public and private investors.”

One of the most concerning red flags, according to the report, is the industry’s unrealistically optimistic financial models that ignore the following:

• Major technical difficulties in extraction at unprecedented depths below the surface. In Fall 2022, the first deep-sea mining (DSM) collection trial in international waters, done at a very small scale, had significant technological hitches. Observers have noted how difficult and unpredictable it is to operate in the ocean depths.
• A volatile minerals market. Frontrunners have built business plans on the assumption that demand for certain minerals that may be obtainable in the deep sea will continue to grow. However, metals prices have not risen in tandem with electric vehicle production: between 2016 and 2023 EV production is up 2,000% and cobalt prices are down 10%. A report commissioned by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) found that there is high uncertainty around prices for commercial metals once contractors begin production, leading to the possibility that relatively high-cost minerals from the seabed are not competitive and thus generate little or no profit.
• There would be a large upfront operational cost associated with DSM, on par with highly industrial extractive industries, including oil and gas. It is unreasonable to assume DSM projects would fare better than standard industrial projects, two-thirds of which go over budget by an average of 50%.

“Seabed minerals – nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper – are not “a battery in a rock” as mining companies claim. Some of these minerals power last-generation technology for electric vehicle batteries but car makers are already finding better and safer ways to power batteries,” said Maddie Warner of The Ocean Foundation and one of the report’s lead authors. “Soon, innovations in battery power will likely sink demand for seabed minerals.”

Potential costs and liabilities are exacerbated by known and unknown threats in all aspects of DSM, making a return on investment uncertain. These threats include:

• Incomplete regulations at the national and international levels that, in their current draft form, anticipate robust costs and extreme liabilities. These include significant upfront financial guarantees / bonds, mandatory insurance requirements, strict liability for companies and extremely long term monitoring requirements.
• Reputational concerns associated with front-running DSM companies. Early-stage startups have not factored risk or actual damages from environmental spills or protests into their business plans, giving potential investors and decision-makers an incomplete picture. For example, when The Metals Company (TMC) was first listed on the U.S. stock exchange, civil society argued that its original filing did not sufficiently disclose risks; the Securities Exchange Commission agreed and required TMC to file an update.
• Ambiguity around who will pay for the cost of damage to ocean ecosystems.  
• Misleading comparisons to terrestrial mining and overstated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) claims.

Compounding all of these risks is the mounting international pressure to halt deep-sea mining. Currently, 24 countries have called for a ban, moratorium, or precautionary pause on the industry.

Increasingly, banks, financial institutions and insurers have also cast doubt on the industry’s viability. In July 2023, 37 financial institutions urged governments to pause deep seabed mining until the environmental, sociocultural, and economic risks are understood and alternatives to deep sea minerals have been explored.

“Significant challenges must be overcome before DSM can be recognized as economically viable or as a responsible industry that can make a positive economic contribution to society,” the statement says. Banks worldwide including Lloyds, NatWest, Standard Chartered, ABN Amro, Credit Suisse and BBVA have also shunned the industry.

Additionally, 39 companies signed pledges not to invest in DSM, not allow mined minerals to enter their supply chains and not source minerals from the deep sea. These companies include Google, Samsung, Philips, Patagonia, BMW, Rivian, Volkswagen and Salesforce.

Swimming against the tide, some countries, such as Norway and the Cook Islands, have opened up their national waters to exploratory mining activities. The U.S. government was expected to release a report by March 1 assessing the industry’s viability domestically, while TMC has an application pending for US government funding to build a seabed minerals processing plant in Texas. Countries pursuing deep sea mining are increasingly isolated on the global stage. “As delegates prepare for the 29th Session of the International Seabed Authority (Part One), being held from 18-29 March 2024 in Kingston, Jamaica, this report offers guidance for how investors and government decision-makers can more comprehensively assess the financial risk of potential deep seabed mining operations,” said Mark. J. Spalding, President, The Ocean Foundation.

How to cite this report: Published by The Ocean Foundation. Authors: Bobbi-Jo Dobush and Maddie Warner. 29 February 2024.  Special thanks to contributions and reviews from Neil Nathan, Kelly Wang, Martin Webeler, Andy Whitmore, and Victor Vescovo.

For more information:
Alec Caso (acaso@burness.com; 310-488-5604)
Susan Tonassi (stonassi@burness.com; 202-716-9665)

About The Ocean Foundation

As the only community foundation for the ocean, The Ocean Foundation’s 501(c) (3) mission is to improve global ocean health, climate resilience, and the blue economy. We create partnerships to connect all peoples in the communities in which we work to the informational, technical, and financial resources they need to achieve their ocean stewardship goals. The Ocean Foundation executes core programmatic initiatives to make ocean science more equitable, advance blue resilience, address global marine plastic pollution, and develop ocean literacy for marine education leaders. It also fiscally hosts more than 55 projects across 25 countries.

The post New Analysis: Business Case for Deep Sea Mining – Highly Complicated and Widely Unproven – Doesn’t Add Up appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

Read the entire article below:

The post Golden Acre Foods to complete $1.4M donation for habitat restoration in Puerto Rico by 2024 appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

From time to time, The Ocean Foundation has also been confused with these scammers through both our name and/or through confusion with the name The Ocean Project, which is a fiscally hosted project of The Ocean Foundation. Neither The Ocean Foundation nor The Ocean Project have store pages and neither entity sells any items- including bracelets, stuffed animals, etc. 

If you have been scammed, please do NOT email or call The Ocean Foundation or The Ocean Project if you haven’t received your order or if you have questions about your turtle. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do. Instead, we encourage you to report the activity of these companies to the Better Business Bureau, Shopify, and Facebook (contact information below).

How to report scam companies:

File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau: https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/get-started

Report online shops to Shopify: https://help.shopify.com/en/questions#/contact/email

Report pages to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/355811251195044

The post Scam Alert – Do Not Purchase Products from These Companies appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

In 2021, the United States established a new multi-agency partnership to foster small island leadership in combating the climate crisis and promoting resilience in ways that reflect their unique cultures and sustainable development needs. This partnership supports the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) and other key initiatives such as the U.S.- Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis (PACC2030). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) partners with the U.S. Department of State (DoS), along with The Ocean Foundation (TOF), to support a unique island-led initiative – the Local2030 Islands Network – through technical collaboration with and support for small island developing nations to advance the integration of climate data and information for resilience, and the application of effective coastal and marine resource management strategies to support sustainable development.

Detailed eligibility and instructions to apply are included in the downloadable request for proposals.

About The Ocean Foundation

As the only community foundation for the ocean, The Ocean Foundation’s 501(c)(3) mission is to support, strengthen, and promote those organizations dedicated to reversing the trend of destruction of ocean environments around the world. We focus our collective expertise on emerging threats to generate cutting-edge solutions and better strategies for implementation.

Funding Available

The Regenerative Tourism Catalyst Grant Program will award approximately 10-15 grants for projects up to 12 months in length. Award Range: USD $5,000 – $15,000

Program Tracks (Thematic Areas)

1. Sustainable and Regenerative Tourism: introduce and promote the concept of sustainable and regenerative tourism by planning for tourism that not only reduces its negative impact but purposely aims to improve the communities in which tourism takes place. This track could include engagement with industry stakeholders. 
2. Regenerative Tourism and Food Systems (Permaculture): support activities that promote regenerative food systems that also support tourism activities including connections to cultural aspects. Examples could also include improving food security, promoting cultural food practices, developing permaculture projects, and designing food waste reduction practices.
3. Regenerative Tourism and Seafood: activities that support seafood production, capture, and traceability through regenerative tourism activities associated with recreational and commercial fisheries or aquaculture operations 
4. Sustainable Regenerative Tourism and Nature-based climate solutions including Blue Carbon: activities that support the IUCN Nature Based Solutions Global Standards including improving ecosystem integrity and biodiversity, enhancing conservation, or supporting blue carbon ecosystem management/conservation.
5. Regenerative Tourism and Culture/Heritage: activities incorporating and using knowledge systems of Indigenous people and aligning tourism approaches with existing cultural/traditional views of guardianship and protection of places.
6. Sustainable and Regenerative Tourism and Engaging Youth, Women, and/or Other Underrepresented Groups: activities that support empowering groups to actively plan, promote, or implement regenerative tourism concepts.

Eligible Activities

• Needs assessment and gap analysis (include aspect on implementation)
• Stakeholder engagement including community engagement 
• Capacity building including trainings and workshops
• Voluntourism Project Design and Implementation
• Tourism Impact Assessment and planning to reduce impact
• Implementing regenerative/sustainability components for hospitality or guest services

Eligibility & Requirements

To be considered for this award, applying institutions must be based in one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Grenada, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Sao Tome e Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St.Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Timor Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. Organizations and project work may only be based in and benefit the islands listed above.

Timeline

• Release Date: February 1, 2024 
• Informational Webinar: February 7, 2024 (1:30 pm PDT / 7:30 pm EDT / 9:30 pm UTC);
  • Click here to view the webinar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xWH01bJNbM)
  • Click here to view the slides from the webinar (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ur5Ondt67zQRr-It1Mfp0UpZ8PNyPYsq/view?usp=sharing)
• Proposal Prep Virtual Session: March 12, 2024 (4:30 pm PDT / 7:30 pm EDT / March 13, 2024, 12:30 am UTC); Click here to join at session time (https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81310074282)
• Support session offered at April 2024 in-person CoP meeting
• Proposal Deadline: June 30, 2024, by 11:59 pm EDT
• Award Announcements: August 15, 2024
• Project Start Date: September 1, 2024
• Project End Date: August 31, 2025

How to Apply

Proposals are due by June 30, 2024, 11:59 pm EDT, and should be submitted on the link below.

Contact Information

Please direct all questions about this RFP to Courtnie Park, at cpark@oceanfdn.org.

The post Regenerative Tourism Catalyst Grant Program | 2024 appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

The post A listen on: Potentially Polluting Wrecks appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

Those in other PI countries and territories (such as Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau) may also apply. The application deadline is 23 February 2024. This will be the only call for such proposals. Funding support is provided by the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program.

Scope

This grant opportunity will enable recipients to advance an area of their work on ocean acidification, thus contributing to increased resilience in the Pacific Islands region. Proposed activities should take a collaborative approach, with an emphasis on expanding the capabilities of the applicant as a result of engaging others working on ocean acidification. Established GOA-ON Pier2Peer pairs are encouraged to apply, but the applicant may identify other collaborators that enable them to advance skills, obtain training, refine research approaches, or share knowledge. Activities engaging the Pacific Islands Ocean Acidification Centre based at The Pacific Community in Suva, Fiji, are especially encouraged. While the applicant must be based in the Pacific Islands region, collaborators need not work in the Pacific Islands region.

Activities that can be supported by this opportunity include but are not limited to: 

• Attending training focusing on a research methodology, data analysis skills, modeling efforts, or similar learnings 
• Travel to the Pacific Islands OA Centre, arranged in collaboration with its personnel, to train on the GOA-ON in a Box kit
• Inviting an expert in an aspect of the ocean acidification field to travel to the applicant’s facility to assist with a particular protocol, build a new equipment setup, troubleshoot a sensor or methodology, or process data
• Initializing a collaboration with a mentor of choice that advances the applicant’s specialized knowledge, such as embarking on a discrete research project or drafting a manuscript
• Leading a gathering of researchers to conduct a specialized workshop, share approaches, and/or discuss research findings

TOF anticipates funding for each award around $5,000 USD. The budget should primarily enable activities that support collaboration between the applicant and a mentor/colleagues/teacher/etc, such as travel and training costs, although a portion of the budget may be used for equipment repair or purchase. 

Application guidance

Proposals should outline one or more joint activities that expand the capability of the applicant via a collaboration with one or more ocean acidification researchers. Successful projects will be feasible and have an impact on the applicant as well as on OA research beyond the project. Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• The ability of the project to expand OA research capabilities of the applicant (25 points)
• The ability of the project to create strengthened capacity for ocean acidification research in the applicant’s institution or region (20 points)
• The applicability of the proposed collaborator(s) to support the activity/activities (20 points)
• The suitability of the activity/activities to the expertise, skill levels, financial resources, and technical resources of the applicant (20 points)
• The suitability of the budget for the activity/activities and outcome(s) (15 points)

Application Components

Applications should contain the following:

1. Name, affiliation and country of the applicant
2. Names of proposed collaborators–mentor(s), colleague(s), trainer(s), teacher(s)–or a description of what an ideal collaborator would provide and how they will be recruited.
3. A project overview that includes
   a) A brief description of the overall objective(s), purpose(s), and rough timeline of the activities (½ page) and;
   b) Specifics of the activity/activities proposed (½ page)
4. How the project will benefit the applicant and is anticipated to contribute to overall greater institutional/regional OA capacity (½ page);
5. Proposed line-item budget, noting the amount and breakdown for each major activity of the proposed work (½ page).

Submission Instructions

Applications should be emailed as a Word document or PDF to The Ocean Foundation (IOAI@oceanfdn.org) by 23 February 2024. 

Questions about eligibility, inquiries on suitability of the proposed work, or requests for recommendations of potential collaborators (which are not guaranteed) may be sent to this address as well. Inquiries to discuss collaboration with the Pacific Islands OA Centre can be made to azariap@spc.int. 

Dr. Christina McGraw at the University of Otago is available to offer feedback to applications, including proposed activities and the proposal itself, to suggest improvements prior to submission. Requests for review may be sent to christina.mcgraw@otago.ac.nz by 16 February.

All applicants will be notified of the funding decision by mid-March. Activities should be conducted and funds should be expended within one year of receipt, with a final brief narrative and budget report due three months later.

The post Pacific Islands Collaboration and Learning Grants to Strengthen Ocean Acidification Research Capacity appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

When it comes to the high seas, there is a large part (64%) of the ocean that no one truly owns and that no one country can protect on its own. Which begs the question, “how do you protect something that doesn’t belong (only) to you?” Scholars espouse that the area belongs to us all.

According to the European Commission, only 1% of the high seas is protected, a shockingly small area to account for. With the remainder of the high seas unprotected, one can only imagine the impact of our actions on biodiversity. Think of the high seas as a world far beyond human grasp and, arguably, comprehension.

United by the desire to protect biodiversity, experts made an effort this past year to protect biodiversity; and whether one looks at this effort with a critical eye or with optimism, 2023 showed us that problems in the high seas can only be solved by collaboration.

IMPACT OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL #14

Perhaps the best way to start is by acknowledging that the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) play a major role in contextualizing this year’s effort to protect the high seas.

Notably, SDG 14: Life Below Water, which aims to “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development,” is a guidepost for efforts to promote ocean health in the high seas and, coincidently, 2023 is part of the 4-year review cycle for the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR). This year also marks the half-way point between when the report was first written and the goalpost of 2030. With this backdrop in mind, let’s take a brief look at the 2023 developments.

AGREEMENT UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA ON THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF MARINE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF AREAS BEYOND NATIONAL JURISDICTION (BBNJ Agreement Adopted June 2023)

The BBNJ Agreement was adopted in New York on June 19^th 2023. This landmark agreement contains an important general objective in Article 2, “to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, for the present and in the long term, through effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the Convention and further international cooperation and coordination [emphasis added].”

In Article 7 General principles and approaches, the BBNJ Agreement lays out many guiding principles that are familiar in the environmental law context, such as the “polluter-pays principle” and the “use of the best available science and scientific information.” The agreement then goes on to divide up objectives based upon different subject areas. Below is a preview:

KUNMING-MONTREAL GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK (ADOPTED DEC. 2022; IMPACTING 2023 AND BEYOND)

One should pay close attention to the purpose of this framework. Section B. Purpose on the value of biodiversity includes a stated purpose “to catalyze, enable and galvanize urgent and transformative action…to halt and reverse biodiversity loss…”

In Section F. 2050 vision and 2030 mission, the framework splits up its timeline into two parts: present time until 2030, and 2030 to 2050. The 2030 mission includes an emphasis on taking “urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss…” whereas the 2050 vision is a bit more amorphous, focusing on the value, wise use, restoration, and conservation of biodiversity resources.

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION: AGREEMENT ON FISHERY SUBSIDIES (Adopted June 2022).

One major consideration regarding “overfishing” is whether biodiversity is affected. The Agreement of Fishery Subsidies, adopted in June 2022, is one mechanism that may be used to restrict “illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)” fishing activities among its members.

As part of the overarching Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement), this WTO agreement is extremely specific when it comes to defining IUU and to specifying what is allowed and what is not allowed. This will likely prevent any misinterpretation of the language – a major benefit when different countries work together to thwart illegal fishing in marine waters.

The post 2023: A First Step in Protecting the Elusive High Seas appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

The Ocean Foundation participated in the meetings for the third time this year, continuing to speak with delegates on our key goals:

1. Ensuring the inclusion and consideration for the protection of all Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH)

2. Requiring transparency and holistic stakeholder engagement (bringing more of the right people to the table, and encouraging an increased diversity of voices), and

3. Raising questions about the gaps in the draft regulations regarding legal and financial obligations. 

Amplifying Pacific Indigenous Leaders voices

Between the July and November meetings, countries met “intersessionally,” or, between sessions, at the Kingston Jamaican Conference Center to discuss ways forward on a number of topics not given time for discussion during the official meetings. TOF has participated in a number of meetings to support conversation on Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) and how to best represent it in the draft regulations. 

During this intersessional period, a group of Pacific Indigenous Leaders worked to develop a statement to describe and honor their relationship with the ocean and the deep sea as requiring protection from deep seabed mining. Their statement was delivered on behalf of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and residents of Pacific Small Island Developing States to propose language to guide the definition of “intangible cultural heritage” within the draft regulations. The proposal is guided by international law, Indigenous experience, and principles drawn from the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Principle 3 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development as well as the BBNJ Agreement (otherwise known as the High Seas Treaty). 

In November, the facilitator of these intersessional meetings was invited to give a progress report and invite countries to respond to the work of the group, including the proposal by the Pacific Indigenous Leaders. Twelve countries indicated interest in further conversation, including a number of delegations who had not previously engaged on the topic. We hope to see conversation on this proposal and efforts to define “intangible cultural heritage” continue, with those in the room who have expertise on the topic based on lived experiences and traditional knowledge, in particular, Indigenous people and local communities. 

Silence Should Not Mean Approval

The ISA Council adopted a decision to help guide the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) of the Authority in its work in the coming year. There was hope the decision would include binding language surrounding the use of the silence procedure (allowing decisions to be automatically agreed if there are no voiced disagreements). 

That was not the case. Instead, the document requests more information for when the silence procedure is used and offers a reminder to the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) that the procedure should be used as a means of decision-making at the end of a consultation process, and not as a substitute for the consultation process. With the loophole from the 2 year rule still open, the LTC’s use of the silence procedure may cause a submitted DSM application to be approved, even if LTC members would have disapproved it given the opportunity for discussion, a concerning possibility. 

Fundamental problems: Financial gaps and regulatory concerns

The regulations as currently drafted are not sufficiently protective of anyone – not contractors, not Sponsoring States (countries allowing mining activities), not other Member States, not the ISA itself nor civil society or humankind, and not the marine environment. Rather, they are rife with conflicts of interest, lower than baseline standards, and limited transparency.

The Ocean Foundation has regularly submitted comments and suggestions to highlight the gaps in the regulatory framework. These comments follow standard practice, as seen by a few examples below.

Into 2024 and Beyond

Developing and agreeing to rules of procedure is not glamorous work and it can take days in an international setting.  However, without a common understanding of the ways of working, not everyone in the room can be comfortable with the outcomes of a process. 

In previous meetings, the facilitators have encouraged countries to make remarks about each regulation and to discuss each area of redlined (newly proposed, not agreed) text. The November 2023 meetings have approached the text differently, with facilitators requesting general comments on large sections of regulations (often 3-10 regulations), causing delegations to deliver 10-15+ minute interventions, as they had prepared to continue working on a more detailed level. Most remarkably, these working method decisions seem to have largely been determined without Council agreement — a few countries noted their concerns with this working method on one of the first days, remarking that there was no decision taken or explanation for this shift in methodology. 

The ways of working for the 2024 meetings are still largely unconfirmed. The President of the Council proposed a set of suggestions for working methods, including a consolidated text (the regulations are currently separated out into groups) and encouraged meetings that are more informal than the current structure of the meetings. The use of a consolidated text may further reduce the time spent on individual regulations, limiting the possibility for countries to raise concerns, a necessary working phase that should not be rushed. While Observers and other non-voting members are able to participate in the current structure of the meetings, an increase in more informal meetings may cause important conversations to move behind closed doors, where Observers are not invited to participate. No formal decision was taken on a way forward.

It has become increasingly clear in each working group that there is still much to do, and that consensus is still far away. The Ocean Foundation strongly believes that the responsible way forward to protect the ocean and marine environment is to set a precautionary pause or moratorium on deep seabed mining unless and until scientific research demonstrates mining can be done without harm to the environment.

The post No-Mining November: The Ocean Foundation’s ISA Council Check-In appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

This article that appears in the November/December 2023 issue of The Environmental Forum is reprinted by permission. The Forum is the Environmental Law Institute’s magazine for the environmental profession. Visit www.eli.org.

The post Don’t Shade the Ocean appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.

In his effort to research and protect these creatures, he implemented a hand capturing method for tagging and studying turtles without using nets. This method, while not commonly used by other researchers, was the one Boyd preferred, since it enabled the capture of the rarely studied male sea turtles. Applications are invited from Masters and Ph.D. level students that work and/or research in an area consistent with the Boyd Lyon Sea Turtle Fund’s mission to support field research projects that further our knowledge of sea turtle behavior and habitat use in the marine environment, as well as those projects that promote their management and conservation in coastal ecosystems. Applications to be considered must address questions from a wide range of fields in sea turtle research and conservation including, but not limited to life history studies, oceanography, marine affairs, environmental sciences, public policy, community planning and natural resources. One merit-based award of $2,500 will be made annually to a student at the Masters or Ph.D. level, based upon available funds.

Completed application materials must be received by 15 January 2024, 11:59pm PT.

Please submit applications electronically to scholarships@oceanfdn.org. Award announcement will be made in April 2024.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Be a student enrolled in an accredited College or University (in the U.S. or internationally) during the 2023/2024 academic year. Graduate students (minimum 9 credits completed) are eligible. Both full and part time students are welcome to apply.
• Clearly demonstrate interest in enhancing our understanding of sea turtle behavior and conservation, habitat needs, abundance, spatial and temporal distribution, as well as contribution(s) to advancing the public interest in such issues, as evidenced by both of the following:
  (1) A major field of study pertaining to oceanography, marine affairs, environmental sciences, public policy, community planning or natural resources.
  (2) Participation in cooperative or independent research, environmental activities or work experience related to the above mentioned disciplines.

Recipient responsibilities:

• Write a letter to The Ocean Foundation Board of Directors explaining how this scholarship assisted your professional/personal growth; and document how the funds were utilized.
• Have your “Profile” (an article about you and your studies/research etc. as it pertains to sea turtles) published on the Ocean Foundation/Boyd Lyon Sea Turtle Fund website.
• Acknowledge The Ocean Foundation/ Boyd Lyon Sea Turtle Fund in any publication(s) or presentations that may result from research that the scholarship assisted in funding, and provide a copy of said article(s) to The Ocean Foundation.

Include in your Application:

• A completed application form and a copy of your resume or CV
• A research proposal (max 3 pages single spaced 12 pt. font). In your proposal please include the following (Submit project description and budget proposal with application):
  • A project description stating the background of the particular research question being addressed, the goals of your research, methodologies pertaining to your research (please include proper safe capture and handling protocols into the methodology where relevant), expected outcomes, and plans for how results will be disseminated.
  • A brief (1 paragraph) personal statement describing your career goals as they pertain to marine environment issues.
  • A budget describing specifically how the $2,500 will be used to support your research.
• 2 letters of reference; one from a sponsoring faculty member

Additional Information:

The Ocean Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit public foundation and is the host of the Boyd Lyon Sea Turtle Fund dedicated to those projects that enhance our understanding of sea turtle behavior and conservation, habitat needs, abundance, spatial and temporal distribution, and research diving safety.

• For more information about The Ocean Foundation, please see oceanfdn.org
• For more information about the Boyd Lyon Sea Turtle Fund, please see boydlyonseaturtlefund.org
• Questions regarding the Boyd N. Lyon Scholarship should be addressed to scholarships@oceanfdn.org

The post Boyd N. Lyon Scholarship – 2024 appeared first on The Ocean Foundation.