Aloha and Håfa Adai! My name is Sefa Muñoz from Guam. As a University of Guam Sea Grant Program sea turtle researcher, I monitored green sea turtle activity on one of Guam’s main nesting beaches and shared the excitement of my work to over 4,000 Guamanians in classrooms, community events, and featured speaking engagements. My passion for sea turtle conservation started in 2014 when I began volunteering as a Patrol Leader and Research Intern for the Haggan (sea turtle in the Chamorro language) Watch Program to monitor Guam’s beaches for sea turtle nesting activity. Since then, I have been integrating the skills I learned from my various research experiences into my graduate work. Currently, I am studying the mating strategies of Guam’s nesting green sea turtles and establishing baseline data, such as breeding sex ratios, to best measure the impact of ongoing climate change on this small nesting population. Outside of my research, I volunteer as a Sustainable Coastlines Hawai‘i Intern and Educator and as a Graduate Women in Science Hawai‘i Outreach Coordinator, where I happily continue to engage with the public. I particularly enjoy sharing the joy of STEM with young Pacific Islander girls to help them feel empowered to pursue a future in STEM.
All photos above were taken while conducting permitted activities under USFWS permit TE-72088A-2