Adeeshia Imade Tellei
Tell us about your work/ research. What kinds of things do you do?
I work alongside the Palau International Coral Reef Center's (PICRC) outreach officers and the Palau Aquarium team to engage with Palau's students, science educators, community, and other stakeholders by providing the best science educational tools, reports, activities, opportunities, and resources to the people of Palau.
What sparked your initial interest in your career?
At a very young age, I was taught and exposed to the fundamentals of conservation and protection of Palau's marine resources. At home, I would watch my father set up his fish traps and he would always remind that we only take what we need and not more from the ocean. At school, some of my teachers were also very influential in educating about the effects of overexploitation, and so I've always had a strong sentiment for protecting Palau's ocean and its resources.
Who influenced you or encouraged you the most?
My family has always been instrumental and supportive of my personal goals and aspirations, as well as my career. I truly enjoy working and building connections with people, in addition to learning new things, and working at PICRC gives me all the opportunities to do so.
What element of your work/ study do you think is the most fascinating?
The most fascinating thing I have done recently is to explore Palau's coral reefs in a virtual reality world using the Meta Quest 3 headset. At PICRC, we are always tweaking and innovating our outreach efforts, and so this will be a new program to allow students and other stakeholders to "dive" and learn how we conduct our research and monitoring efforts. We hope that this will inspire students and others to better understand the value of protecting our oceans and its resources.
How did you get involved with Ocean Exploration Trust? How did you become part of the expedition team?
I was first in contact with Dr. Daniel Wagner, OET's Chief Scientists when we were organizing the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS) science and monitoring workshop. Here, we invited many experts in the field of large-scale marine protected areas to help us develop and produce a 10-year science and monitoring strategy for the PNMS. The strategy is now published and can be accessed at www.picrc.org This ongoing partnership between OET and PICRC grew into developing expeditions plans to explore in PNMS.
What other jobs led you to your current career?
After graduating from school, I first started working with the Belau Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (BANGO) which is where I learned that I enjoy interacting and building connections with different people and communities. From there, an opportunity to work at PICRC caught my interest; the rest is history.
What are your degrees and certifications?
Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Diplomacy - Ming Chuan University 2019
Masters of Arts in International Affairs - Ming Chuan University 2020
What are your hobbies?
I love fishing, kayaking, outrigger canoe paddling, and spending time with family and friends.
What advice would you give someone who wants to have a career like yours?
Go for it! Apply for all the opportunities, accept and work through the challenges, ask questions with an open mind, and never stop learning.
What excites me the most about participating in a deep ocean exploration mission is, we've never had a research expedition of this scale in the Palau National Marine Sanctuary and so to be a part of that is very exciting. I also like how I'll be learning first-hand with other Palauan educators and students, and the fact that there is still a lot of unexplored areas in the PNMS, I can only imagine what we'll find and discover.
