Projects

Whitsunday Training can organise real-world projects for your study group in areas such as environmental management, protection and restoration. These projects give students the opportunity to learn while making a practical contribution to the environment.

Marine biology students from Maricopa College in Phoenix, Arizona recently undertook some environmental projects with Whitsunday Training to complement their studies of the Great Barrier Reef.

During their two-week study tour of the Whitsundays the students engaged in volunteer work for the Australian Government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, for the international monitoring group Reef Check, and for the local citizens' volunteer organisation, Order of the Underwater Coral Heroes (OUCH). By working with these organisations, the students gained real-world experience and college credit while playing an active role in protecting the Great Barrier Reef.

These collaborative projects challenged the students to identify possible solutions to problems facing the reef and gave them practical experience in fixing those problems. The students' fieldwork included activities such as:

• conducting seagrass surveys;
• maintaining marker buoys that prevent boats from anchoring on coral reefs; and
• submitting a zoning plan for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.