[Coral-List] Volunteering at Akumal Coral Reef Monitoring Program

[Elisa López García]

Dear Coral-Listers,

The Ecological Center of Akumal (CEA) is now accepting volunteers for our Coral Reef Monitoring Program. Akumal is located in the Mexican Caribbean, on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and the program brings a great opportunity for students who are looking for field experience in reef ecology and biodiversity conservation.
 
CEA as a non-profit organization was founded in 1993. Our mission is to help create a model for sustainable tourism development in the Mexican Caribbean through research, education and outreach. The main goal of CEA’s Reef Monitoring subprogram is to collect comprehensive data on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in the region of Akumal. We run four monitoring phases per year. Therefore we ask the volunteers a commitment of 3 months with will include the following steps:
-       theoretical background on the biology and ecology of the Mesoamerican Reef System,
-       training in benthic, fish and diseases identification following AGRRA (http://www.agrra.org/) and SAM (http://www.mbrs.doe.gov.bz/) methodologies,
-       the monitoring of Akumal Reef on scuba
-       and the analysis of the data recovered.
 
Data from monitoring will be use to assess the reef health status and will help us to continue building a historical record of the anthropogenic impact on the bay. Volunteers can expect to gain a vast amount of experience on their water skills and on statistical analysis with ecological purposes, and they will be an active part of every activity from the Coastal Ecosystem Program and CEA. Undergrad thesis and researching stays are also welcome.
We expect our volunteers to be at least Open Water Divers by the time the training starts, however the Dive Centers of Akumal offer good deals for them to get licensed.
 
Our next phase will start in March and last until June 2014. Interested applicants please contact us at arrecife at ceakumal.org / +52 984 875 9095

Thanks,

M. en C. Elisa López García
Volunteer coordinator
Coastal Ecosystems Program
Centro Ecológico Akumal
arrecife at ceakumal.org
Tel: +52 (984) 875 9095