SeaWeb periodically offers scholarships to qualified journalists so that they may attend and report on ocean-related conferences in the Asia Pacific region. Our scholarship program is intended to enhance media coverage of new research findings and issues of concern. We support ocean science reporting by connecting journalists with leading experts, providing background information on marine issues in the Asia Pacific, and offering field trips for hands-on exploration of the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

If you are an active journalist and would like to be put on the list to receive information about upcoming scholarship opportunities, please e-mail us.

Scholarships

The 11th International Coral Reef Symposium - Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, July 7 -11, 2008

SeaWeb is offering travel scholarships for media to attend the world’s preeminent summit on coral reef science and management. At this year’s International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from July 7 to 11, the media will have access to leading ocean experts from around the world and to press briefings on the latest scientific findings, as well as a field trip to see firsthand the threats to coral reefs.

Held only once every four years, the International Coral Reef Symposium will host more than 2,500 international scientists, policy makers, managers and conservationists. This year’s symposium occurs during the 2008 International Year of the Reef. Key focuses of the symposium include the challenges that climate change, overfishing and pollution pose to coral reefs. Symposium sessions will be held in a question-driven format, with reports and breaking news on:

• The emerging link between ocean acidification and coral reef health
• Diseases killing coral reefs around the world
• Recovery of coral reef ecosystems following bleaching episodes
• Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

Open to reporters, editors, science writers and freelance journalists in print, broadcast and online media.

For more information, please visit http://www.nova.edu/ncri/11icrs/index.html.
About the Application Process: Scholarship applications should be submitted to SeaWeb by Friday, March 7, 2008 by email.

Download application >

The 7th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas - Cook Islands, July 6-13, 2002

The 7th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas was held to celebrate the region’s previous nature conservation strategies and to define the future conservation agenda. To gain public support throughout the region, it was essential that the media understand why nature conservation is so important for the region’s sustainable development, and to be able to translate the future conservation agenda. To this aim, SeaWeb provided the Pacific Ocean Sciences Fellowship.

The fellowship was provided for journalists from major media markets in the Pacific Islands and around the world to inform them about Pacific Ocean sciences. The chief goal was familiarize a group of influential journalists with important regional marine conservation issues and leaders.

The participants came from a wide range of outlets in various countries and regions, including Australia, Europe, Fiji, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and the United States. Through a series of programs including talks, press briefings, field trips to ocean lab activities, we presented the full range of key regional issues as well as facilitated the information flow between journalists and marine conservation practitioners in the region.

SeaWeb thanks its partners the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme and the Pacific Islands News Association for their assistance in the development and implementation of this workshop.

Click here to see the PICNCPA Agenda.

9th International Coral Reef Symposium (9ICRS), Bali, Indonesia, October 22-27, 2000

Every four years, 1,500 of the world’s leading coral reef experts meet as part of the international coral reef symposium to exchange ideas and disseminate information. Because coral reef health is important worldwide, it is necessary to make sure the information presented at this meeting reaches beyond the scientific world.

SeaWeb provided scholarships to support media attendance and as a result 45 journalists from around the world attended ICRS. All media received background materials and support from SeaWeb.

These journalists represented the following countries: Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, the UK, and the US. These journalists came from a wide variety of media ranging from The Economist to Nature and the Malaysian Star.

Click here for the 9ICRS News Briefing Schedule.