For Immediate Release Contact: Dr. Lance Morgan (707) 938-3214 (office) Dr. Elliott Norse (425) 968-0449 (office) Marine Conservation Organization Announces Grants in Historical Marine Ecology September 20, 2005 (Bellevue, WA and Glen Ellen, CA) Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI) announced today the 2005 Mia J. Tegner Memorial Research Grant in Marine Environmental History and Historical Marine Ecology award winners. This grant program is one of the first in the world to specifically help scientists document the interaction of human activities upon ocean life and marine ecosystems. Information from these studies are crucial for helping lawmakers, regulators, managers and conservationists set appropriate targets for marine conservation efforts. This year, MCBI awarded 5 grants from a pool of 76 proposals, which represented scientists or science teams from 31 nations. The Tegner Award program seeks to document the state of marine biological diversity prior to human industrial activities. In many cases, researchers and conservationists do not know the base-line environment they are studying, but indigenous or traditional ecological knowledge can help fill this gap. Conservation biologists are increasingly aware of an ecological syndrome termed "Shifting Baselines", whereby today's researchers cannot fully interpret current ecological health against a backdrop of long-term gradual environmental degradation and change which may span decades to centuries. The 2005 Tegner Award winners will be looking to establish historical pictures of populations and communities from such novel techniques as historical photo archives to traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous peoples to historical analysis including analyses of log books, maps and other historical documents. In some cases researchers will be working with aboriginal communities to access indigenous knowledge of ecology. Many of this year's 2005 Tegner research projects focus on traditional ecological knowledge, as it is becoming increasingly apparent that management strategies for indigenous societies based solely on ecological or biological data are seriously inadequate. The 2005 award winners are: 1) Jo Marie Acebes (Philippines) "Historical whaling in the Philippines: origins of 'indigenous subsistence whaling', mapping whaling grounds and comparison with current known distribution." The history of whaling in the Philippines is largely undocumented. Acebes' study will determine the origins and development of 'indigenous subsistence whaling' and will map the historical whaling grounds of local people's and foreign whalers. The data obtained in this study will be compared to current whale distributions in the Philippines and will be used to assess conservation and management. 2) Darrin Drumm (New Zealand) University of Otago, "Tracking a millennium of reef exploitation and ecological impacts of human interactions with the reefs of the southern Cook Islands: a study of archaeological, anthropological and contemporary evidence." Drumm's study will develop a historical account of human exploitation practices of the coral reefs of the Cook Islands over a 700-1,000 year period. This research will help focus conservation efforts by providing a baseline of the historical, pre-impact conditions as well as an understanding of the magnitude of human-related impacts on the coral reefs and their resources. By providing an understanding of the full social and historical dimensions of indigenous interactions with the marine environment, this study will also use indigenous ecological knowledge to help inform management decisions. 3) Heather Lazrus (USA) University of Washington, "Global climate change in the South Pacific: traditional environmental knowledge and community responses on Polynesian Atolls." Lazrus' ethnographic research will focus on understanding ways that traditional ecological knowledge can increase community social and ecological resilience to global climate change on Funafuti and Nanumea Atolls, located in the nation of Tuvalu. Tuvalu has been inhabited for over 2000 years, thus, accumulated local knowledge of ecological changes may provide robust systems for dealing with ecological disasters during this time. In addition to providing environmental baselines of this region, this study will also assess modes of social adaptation to these changes over time. The information obtained in this project will assist the government of Tuvalu with conservation strategies towards the anticipated impacts of global climate change in the future. 4) Joelle Prange (Australia) Marine Studies Program, University of the South Pacific. "Integrating scientific and local indigenous knowledge of coral reef communities of the Great Astrolabe Reef, Fiji." The South Pacific is an area of distinct biological diversity; however conservation of these regions greatly depends upon the combination of culture and science. Prange's research will be one of the first studies to document and integrate indigenous and scientific knowledge of coral reef communities within the Astrolabe Reef, Fiji. The goal 'is to compare community understanding of coral reef communities with scientific descriptions, and to utilize this information, if appropriate, in development of resource/inventory maps. 5) John Reed (USA) Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution: "Effects of bottom trawling on a deep-water coral reef". Using photographic archives Mr. Reed will look to analyze the historic extend and composition of deep-water Oculina reefs off the coast of Florida prior to widespread bottom trawl activity. The unique Oculina coral reef ecosystem is biologically diverse and productive, thus vulnerable to mechanical anthropogenic impacts. These fisheries, which target shrimp, have resulted in the estimated loss of 90% or more of Oculina deep-water reefs. Reed's study will seek to establish baseline conditions of these reefs. Dr. Mia J. Tegner, a marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, lost her life in January 2001 while carrying out research off southern California. She studied the ecology of kelp forest communities and abalone populations, and was particularly interested in understanding how marine populations and ecosystems have changed as a result of human activities. This pioneering research earned her appointments as a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation and as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. These memorial research grants were started to honor her memory by Marine Conservation Biology Institute with funding from the Christensen Fund. Marine Conservation Biology Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the science of marine conservation biology and promoting cooperation essential to protecting and recovering the Earth's biological integrity. Founded in 1996, it is headquartered in Bellevue, WA, and has offices in Glen Ellen, CA and Washington, DC. Go to www.mcbi.org <http://www.mcbi.org/> for more information on this and other MCBI projects, publications and staff. *** NEW ADDRESS & PHONE *** Lance Morgan, Ph.D. Chief Scientist Marine Conservation Biology Institute 14301 Arnold Dr. Suite 25 Glen Ellen, CA 95442 USA V. 707.938.3214 F. 707.996.4842 lance@mcbi.org