Sea Turtle Inclusivity Fund

Promoting Diversity & Community Leadership in the Sea Turtle Community

The environmental community has a long and dark history of racism and exclusion of local communities. Local communities have been left out of planning and creation of protected areas that focus on sea turtles in many places around the world. In addition, barriers to inclusion and advancement in the field have resulted in a lack of diversity in the sea turtle community.

A recent paper titled, “Representation in sea turtle science: Slow progress towards gender equity and globalization revealed from thirty years of symposium abstracts” revealed that while “the sea turtle community has made progress toward building larger collaborative networks, improving gender representation at all levels, and expanding the geographic diversity of institutions and study sites. Nevertheless, major representational biases remain - notably, the predominance of male last authors and the greater representation of institutions within North America and Europe when compared to other continents.”

SEE Turtles is committed to promoting diversity and inclusivity in sea turtle conservation and research community. That is why we have launched our Sea Turtle Inclusivity Fund to help support deserving students to complete field work with sea turtles to advance their careers and to provide support for residents of communities where sea turtle conservation programs are based to complete studies or gain employment in sea turtle conservation.

Meet Our Scholarship Winners:

To date, we have provided 7 scholarships to emerging leaders from 6 countries, totaling more than US $15,000.

  • Keithlyn Rankin (Costa Rica, 2021): Fieldwork Grant

  • Luna Viera (Brazil, 2021): Fieldwork Grant

  • Royner Carrasquero (Venezuela, 2021): Fieldwork Grant

  • Busdar Marabatuan (Indonesia, 2022): Local Community Grant

  • Daneira Brown (Panama, 2022): Fieldwork Grant

  • Angelica Burgos (Venezuela, 2022): Fieldwork Grant

  • Henry John (Papua New Guinea, 2022): Local Community Grant

Donate To Help Fund Scholarships for Students To Do Field Work

Field Work scholarships

We will support deserving members of native and local communities in developing countries to help fund their research efforts at important research programs around the world. Students will be able to use these funds towards flights and transportation to field research sites, as well as a stipend to help cover any expenses not covered by the hosting organization. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of researchers and academics and the funds will be eligible to be used at approved programs anywhere in the world.

Guidelines:

  • Open to undergraduate students at accredited higher education institutions anywhere in the world.

  • Open to students who identify as a minority / underrepresented group as well as low-income students from universities that cannot afford their fieldwork.

  • Costs covered include travel expenses (airfare, local transportation), gear needed for field work, medical insurance (required), and a stipend.

  • This scholarship is intended for students who wish to pursue a career in sea turtle conservation and research. We recognize that careers can go in many different directions, so there is no requirement for the scholarship winner to stay in this field, but our goal is to help promote inclusivity in the sea turtle community, so a desire to work in this field for the long-term is important.

  • Scholarship winners are encouraged to write about their experiences for the SEE Turtles blog but not required to.

  • Scholarship winners are asked to provide feedback on the application process and field work experiences at the end of the field work.

Additional Information:

Costs covered:

  • Stipend: Amount is based on two months of employment at what is considered a living wage for the country where the researcher is from.

  • Travel: Transport to site, accommodations on the way in and out, gear specific to the research

  • Food and lodging at the research site should be covered by the participating organization

Requirements:

  • 2-month minimum time commitment. The scholarship winner can stay for longer if desired but we are not able to provide additional funds for stipends.

Local Community members

The sea turtle community has made important advances in working cooperatively with local communities but much more needs to be done. Through our Billion Baby Turtles program which supports important nesting beaches around the world, we will provide funds for members of the communities where research takes place to complete college studies to help advance their ability to take leadership roles in the work in their communities. These funds will be raised by allocating 5% of donations to our Billion Baby Turtles program. Local communities are defined as living within approximately 20 miles / 30 km of the turtle research area.

College Scholarships

The University Education modality are scholarships to motivate young local residents who have taken advantage of work (volunteer or paid) with sea turtles to study a degree related to the conservation of turtles and related areas. These scholarships will cover the cost of university registration and your room and board expenses throughout the course.

New Positions

Supporting the Local Community, Creating New Jobs Grant is intended to provide funds that offer residents near sea turtle sites leadership positions and opportunities for advancement.

Requirements:

  • Open to students/residents who identify as a minority / underrepresented group as well as low-income students from universities that cannot afford their fieldwork.

  • Funds can be used to complete college studies including tuition, living expenses, books, or supplies.

  • Applications can be completed by the organizations sponsoring the residents.

  • Initially open to current Billion Baby Turtles grantees and other organizations. If there are still funds available, we will open it to other organizations in developing countries.

  • Grant applications will be accepted for up to $3,000 per grantee.