Lauren Pong (Class of 2019) suited up in the photograph above is a first-generation American teenager whose parents are from China. During childhood, Pong attended school in China, United States, Shanghai, and Singapore. She graduated in June 2019 from Singapore American School, an independent, private, not-for-profit international school with an American curriculum. Pong opted to take rigorous science courses including advanced biology and chemistry in preparation for college. However, her schedule did not allow her to select the Advanced Topic environmental science and field research (ATES) course that I taught. Applying her love of both nature and service-learning led to Pong’s involvement in urban farming while in tenth grade on Interim Semester in Singapore. Subsequently, Pong officially applied to the Executive Service Council to create Edible Garden City service club at school. Pong’s senior Catalyst project centered on our science department eco garden soil for planting vegetables.  

In the way of illustration, I will describe the most recent experience we had together on Operation Wallacea expedition last month. Pong's story will be used to highlight the value of experiential education on her education.

Operation Wallacea Expedition was one of Pong’s many experiential learning endeavors.

Less than two weeks after her high school graduation, Pong was among 12 students on a two-week marine Operation Wallacea expedition, sponsored by a friend, Tom, and I. In the coral triangle we were based on two marine stations on the islands of Buton and Hoga in Southeast (SE) Sulawesi, Indonesia. Bau Bau on Buton and Hoga in the Wakatobi Marine Protected Area of the coral triangle are some of the most exciting places on the planet. More than two hundred academics from 15 countries have engaged in hundreds of field research projects. Studies on fisheries, social science, seagrass, mangroves, fiddler crabs, coral ecology, fish ecology, and invertebrate ecology are ongoing. Scientific results have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Thirty new vertebrate species we scientifically discovered.  Large temporal and spatial data obtained from tuition-free funded model run by Operation Wallacea. Data are used to assess the performance of conservation management problems.  

Pong participated as an assistant in research easy to escalate to conservation strategies. Long-term assessment of ecosystem diversity and function is necessary to track changes over time according to temperature data. Monitoring ecosystem change while observing and learning about socio-economic change by Pong and her peers was followed by the establishment and monitoring of the effectiveness of conservation management programs. Conservation measures include the provision of alternative livelihoods for local fishermen, ecotourism, coral restoration work, and seaweed farming.  

Coral Reef Monitoring Protocols

Pong learned new monitoring protocols including Coral Reef Atlas (a partnership between National Geographic and Queensland). No global map of coral reefs currently exists. GPS, nano-satellites, and real-time photographic evidence are being used to capture data for access to the public. Volunteers contribute to georeferenced photo quadrat data for map development. On land and while scuba diving Pong and her peers also engaged in the coral nursery research project funded by Mars (the philanthropic candy bar family), called Mars Assisted Reef Restoration System (MAARS) by helping to deploy half-meter wide, coated metal “spider reefs” on which to attach 15 coral fragments each and then arranged in a viable pattern on the benthic surface according to wave shock and local topography. Benthic data for the monitoring program gathered by the kid citizen scientists included rugosity, coral coverage, fish surveys, and invertebrate abundance and distribution along 50-meter transects. 

As for service-learning, Pong engaged in two beach cleanups one in Hoga and another on another deserted island out from Bau Bau which was strewn with plastic debris. She and her peers learned a standardized micro-plastics sampling technique for collecting and identifying marine microplastics. 

Social contact with locals to have one-on-one discussions at the Bau Bau Station, and then pile into trucks, drive to the nearby beach, unload and then collaborate on the beach cleanup. Needless to say, everyone enjoyed taking selfies together. On the adjacent island to Hoga, Sempela, we took a boat over to meet the Bajo people. Pong interacted with local Bajo children in the UNESCO World Heritage sea gypsy village.

What is next for Lauren Pong?

Pong researched her university choices as did her peers. As a result of Pong’s love for the environment and passion for science, she chose to apply to the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley.  This spring she was accepted into the Conservation and Resource Studies major. Pong is off to follow her dreams to study the environment in all its complexity. What motivates people to choose environmental careers? I have a hunch folks like Pong are motivated by educational experiences in their teenage years to enter an environmental career (whether it be in coral reef management, renewable energy, environmental policy, conservation of ecosystems and endangered species, or waste minimization, and so forth). I worry that not enough teenagers like Pong have the opportunity to engage in experiential learning, or fieldwork to learn and practice ecosystem monitoring techniques, or are being asked to engage in environmental service-learning in their communities. I wonder, are enough young people today born after 2000, so-called, generation Z challenged to learn by doing outdoors? Are they challenged to understand the intersectionality of economics, environmental science, and society (human geography, health, technology, engineering, culture)? Are educational institutions preparing all students to understand the interdisciplinary nature of sustainable development, let alone participate in it?