Hi folks, I'm looking for help from anyone with relevant expertise. I'm considering doing a 3 month volunteer stint with Centro Ecologico Akumal and wondering how beneficial it will be to my career and academic goals. This NGO offers a Marine Ecosystems Program (http://www.ceakumal.org/html_en/programs/marine_coastal_protection.php)
composed of 4 areas: Reef Monitoring and Research, Bay monitoring and Patrol, Management and maintenance, Diffusion and Environmental Education. Reef monitoring and research is my primary area of interest. The program employs the following methodologies: REEF, Reef check, the MBRS survey methodology (see: http://www.eriub.org/latest-news/the-ccfs-hosts-student-volunteer-training-i n-mbrs-survey-methodologies-and-herbarium-specimen-collection.html). A little background of me and my immediate goals: I graduated in 2011 with honors in Marine Biology from Dalhousie, my thesis was not published in part because it had negative results. I have not been able to find job due to the tough market so I'm currently under-employed and volunteering as a research assistant to gain some more lab experience and (hopefully) get authorship in a paper. I intend on pursuing graduate school in Sept 2013 with a focus on coral reef ecology. Would this be a credible experience that would be seen as "field experience" by a PI or would it be passed off as simply "eco-tourism"? Any guidance/feedback will be greatly appreciated, thank you very much! Matthew Oldach [email protected]
