[Coral-List] Marine Internship
Casey Wilkinson
Casey.Wilkinson at noaa.gov
Fri Feb 13 14:23:48 EST 2004
Organization: marine aquarium council
Location: Honolulu, HI (mailing address: c/o MNC, P.O. Box 640, Palo
Alto, CA 94302)
Job location: Manila, Philippines, with significant periods in coastal
villages
Brief Description of Organization
The mission of Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) is to conserve coral reefs
and other marine ecosystems by creating standards and educating and
certifying those engaged in the collection and care of marine
ornamentals from reef to retail. MAC was established in 1998, with its
main office in Honolulu and regional offices in Southeast Asia, the
South Pacific, Europe and the continental U.S. The international MAC
Certification system was launched in late 2001.
Most collectors of marine aquarium organisms care about the animals they
harvest. They strive to employ quality practices for maintaining healthy
animals that garner a good price and relationship with the exporters
that purchase their fish. Many of these collectors are interested in
becoming MAC Certified. However, they are rural fishermen with limited
business and financial management skills and are thus very concerned
about the costs of certification. Certification has direct financial
benefits for collectors, primarily through the reduced mortality and
improved quality control of the certified organisms and the improved
relationship with buyers; the costs of becoming certified will likely be
offset by the savings and business efficiencies collectors realize. The
challenge is that there is little detailed information on the financial
situation of collector operations that would form a baseline to measure
improvements in livelihoods and reduction of poverty.
Supervisors
Paul Holthus, Executive Director (overall project direction)
Lino Alvarez, Philippines Director (direct supervision)
Supervisors’ Backgrounds
Paul Holthus: Paul has wide-ranging experience in developing
international programs, from global ocean policy work with UN agency
directors to site-level work with villagers on small islands. This
includes developing and raising funds for international,
multi-stakeholder networks and projects; initiating private-sector
partnerships for sustainable marine resource use; undertaking
international marine policy work; and playing a major role in
establishing the UNEP Regional Seas program for the South Pacific and
international programs for major organizations (e.g., The Nature
Conservancy).
Lino Alvarez: Lino is responsible for developing and managing MAC
programs in the Philippines. He has 25 years of experience in
communications, management and policy work for government fisheries
institutions, marine conservation NGOs and communications organizations
in the Philippines.
Prior jobs include Director of Information, Education and
Communications; International Marinelife Alliance/Philippines; Executive
Director, Philippine Agricultural Journalists; and Chief of Public
Information Staff, Philippine Fisheries Development Authority.
Job Title Packard Environment Fellow
Job Description: The Fellow will research and analyze the collectors’
component of the marine ornamentals industry in several villages in the
Philippines. The analysis will detail the economic conditions for
non-certified collectors and those that become certified under the MAC
protocol, with particular attention to: documenting the full range of
expenses associated with marine ornamentals collection (e.g., equipment,
fuel, storage, etc.); understanding the pricing market for marine
ornamentals, as well as what mechanisms exist for their sale;
documenting the range of buyers that deal directly with collectors;
understanding the timing of payments made to collectors; and describing
the portion of value of each fish caught attributed to collectors. The
goals of the Fellow’s work will be to:
· Provide a quantitative tool to assist MAC in the process of helping
collectors to understand the benefits of MAC Certification and thereby
reduce their reluctance to seek certification.
· Provide a quantitative baseline and ongoing tool to track MAC
certification progress in light of collector-level economics; the data
provided will inform the focus of MAC certification efforts.
· Provide MAC, the collectors and other stakeholders with a baseline,
goals and measurable results relative to the improvement of collectors
livelihoods and economic conditions derived from MAC Certification.
· Provide MAC with an analysis of micro-finance investments needs and
delivery mechanisms at the collector’s level to support certification.
· Provide MAC with an analysis of the multiplier effect of MAC
Certification in collectors’ communities (i.e. how MAC Certification
benefits extend to other related economic activities in the communities)
Job Significance: The bulk of MAC’s efforts to mainstream certification
are focused on the collectors and their communities. Significant
resources are needed for the training of collectors in sustainable
fishing practices, assisting them to develop co-ops, facilitating their
involvement in developing reef management plans with other stakeholders,
etc. Credible methods and a model to document changes over time will
enable us to demonstrate the livelihood benefits of MAC Certification.
In the short term, this will enable us to attract donor assistance to
work with the collectors and their communities. More importantly, in the
long term, this will allow us to demonstrate to the collectors
themselves the value of participating in certification. This will ensure
that they are aware of the very real incentives for becoming part of a
sustainable fishery and maintaining their participation in the certified
trade.
Desired Qualifications and Experience
· MBA candidate (required)
· Experience working in developing countries, outside urban areas, is
essential
· Strong project management skills, preferably in relation to small and
medium enterprise development
· Strong analytical skills, including financial analysis, synthesis of
ambiguous data and ability to identify key issues and risks
· Ability to work both as part of a team and independently
· Effective written and oral communication, organizational, and
interpersonal skills in a cross-cultural setting
· Ability to work in a rural village environment
· Command of Tagalog or other dialects in the Philippines is desirable
Salary
$650/wk. [Students: Find out if you are eligible for a supplemental
grant from your school’s internship fund.]
Application Deadline
February 25, 2004
Background Information
www.aquariumcouncil.org <http://www.aquariumcouncil.org>
Packard Environment Fellows are supported by a grant from the David and
Lucile Packard Foundation.
To Apply
E-mail a cover letter and resume to the supervisors named above c/o The
MBA-Nonprofit Connection at summerjobs at mnconnection.org
<mailto:summerjobs at mnconnection.org>. Please send the cover letter and
resume as separate attachments, named as follows:
MAC-[your last name]-Cover.doc and MAC-[your last name]-Resume.doc. In
your cover letter, highlight aspects of your experience that are
relevant for this job, including volunteer service, and explain why you
are interested in working with this organization. (For advice on
preparing nonprofit job applications, see “Advice for Job Seekers” at
www.mnconnection.org <http://www.mnconnection.org>.) The MNC will
forward your application to the
employer as soon as it is received.
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