Lawrence
Today magazine, Summer 2007
Micha Jackson ’07 is convinced she was born a conservationist.
Among her earliest memories are moments of complete fascination with anything that crawled, wiggled, ran, floated, or swam. As a 10-year old, she heard that frogs all over the world were dying, so she set out to catch tadpoles, protect them through their growth period, and then release them back into ponds as frogs.
Jackson will soon have an opportunity to practice her passion, when she begins a year-long investigation of coastal marine resources supported by the Providence, R.I.-based Thomas J. Watson Foundation. She was named one of 50 national recipients of a $25,000 fellowship that supports a year of independent travel and exploration outside the United States on a topic of the recipient’s choosing.
Beginning in August, Jackson will embark on an examination of culturally different approaches to conservationism that will take her to Oman, Australia, and the island country of Palau in the western Pacific Ocean.
“Coastal countries have always had a unique relationship with the sea and its inhabitants,” says Jackson, an economics, environmental studies, and government major from Brighton, Ontario. “Australia, Oman, and Palau are all home to marine ecosystems teeming with life. These countries have vastly different histories and cultures, and each is at a very different stage of its development and integration with the modern global economy.
“I want to find out the extent to which the various governments are willing or able to enforce their policies and what role coastal residents play in conservation decisions and enforcement,” she says. “I also want to learn about the ancient myths and legends that pertain to marine resources and mammals, particularly the manatee-like dugong, and see what role those play in modern culture and conservation.”
Jackson will open her trip with three months in Oman, where she plans to collaborate with Aaron Henderson, a professor of ecology at Sultan Qaboos University. The following six months will be spent in northeast Australia, home of the Great Barrier Reef and a large population of Aborigines. She will conclude her investigation in Palau, where traditional approaches practiced by village chiefs are still prevalent.
“I tried to pick three countries that were very different,” says Jackson, who mentally started formulating this project in 2005 after spending part of that summer on the islands of Turks and Caicos in the British West Indies participating in a fieldwork and marine-management course.
“I’m particularly interested in Palua because I want to examine a place that is very isolated and investigate how its conservation efforts developed.”
As she looks forward to her adventure, the logistics of globetrotting to three destinations she has never visited do not faze Jackson in the least. Any anxieties she has have more to do with meeting the spirit of a project she’s been thinking about for two years.
“What I’m most concerned about is staying true to my proposal. How well will I be able to adapt if things aren’t quite the way I expected them to be?” she says.
“And…finding a place to live in Palua,” she adds with a laugh.
Previous Lawrence Watson Fellows