Marine Conservation Project Offers Real-World Experience

Story and photos by Leo Im '28

Growing up in Seoul, where education often prioritized intense competition and reaching the right answer as quickly as possible, I came to NMH in my sophomore year, eager to learn in methods that broke the shackles that have been confining me to the classroom for so long. Through NMH’s Climate Action Club, I participated in policy discussions and attended environmental rallies advocating for polluter accountability. 

While speaking up for a cause showed me that young people could have a voice, I realized that advocating for an issue was just one part of understanding it. Policy discussions addressed problems at a broad level, but I wished to see what those challenges actually looked like on the ground. After observing real-world conservation during an NMH trip to Costa Rica, Okinawa became my next step as a chance to observe, collect data, document, and communicate what I found.

Under the summer sun on the beaches of Okinawa, 11 other students and I set out on an intensive marine conservation workshop which lasted for five days. Organized in collaboration with the local marine protection group Churamura, the program combined field ecology, data collection and media. Beyond the arduous schedule and daily research reports we were supposed to turn in on a daily basis, our team discovered that ocean conservation put into requirement both scientific precision and quite a lot of storytelling as well — even if that story took the form of an environmental horror film. 

From the moment we set foot on Okinawa, the itinerary demanded early mornings and active field biology. Starting at 6 am, we joined certified Churamura rangers on turtle patrols to track nesting sites, record measurements, and conduct post hatching excavation surveys to calculate the hatching success rates. The scientific inquiry extended beyond the beaches as we navigated the rock pools of Maeda Misaki, visited the Sango Batake coral restoration facility, and joined local fishermen at Toya Fishing port at dawn to assist in tagging and releasing sea turtles that were caught as bycatch. 

 For participant Jaeheon Lee, a postgraduate from St. Mary’s International School, getting into the sand transformed his understanding of genuine ecological research. “Participating in real world conservation data collection made the work feel much more tangible,” Lee reflected. “Measuring the nests and checking hatching success showed me that conservation isn’t just about caring for wildlife. It requires consistency and patience as well.”

 Plastic pollution is often discussed in abstract, global terms, but the workshop forced us to confront the issue directly. After collecting marine debris during morning beach cleans, we collaborated with renowned Okinawan upcycling artist Yuki to create custom resin art, laptop cases, and bracelets from discarded wetsuits, abandoned fishing nets, and microplastics.

 Hoyeon Lee, a postgraduate from Korean International School, found that working directly with waste changed his perspective on environmental action. “I was surprised by how easy and enjoyable the upcycling process was,” Lee said. “I had always thought of plastic pollution as something that required large scale solutions, but turning discarded materials into something creative felt accessible. It made me realize this was something I could actually do in my free time.”

While the official agenda required daily research reports and documentary footage, we utilized our spare energy (when we had some) on creating an environmental horror film shot on location across Okinawa’s beaches and rocky shores. Using the natural landscape and our own rooms as a drastic backdrop, the film enabled the team to process the environmental themes of the trip through a narrative lens while building strong camaraderie among the crew.

For me, Okinawa synthesized every step I’ve taken so far. NMH’s Climate Action Club taught me how to advocate, the travel to Costa Rica allowed me to see ecological challenges firsthand, and Okinawa challenged me to observe, document, and communicate with those realities. Waking up sharp at dawn to patrol the shores and examining real ecological data proved that conservation isn’t an abstract subject we discuss inside a classroom, it being an action which requires ground level engagement.

As we completed our final field studies and prepared to return home, the consensus among the researchers was clear that everyday individual choices matter just as much as large scale initiatives. Hoyeon Lee emphasized that the biggest lesson he brought from home is that conservation does not always have to feel like a massive commitment. “Small actions, like picking up litter when I see it or finding creative ways to reuse waste, are easy to  make part of my everyday life,” he noted.

 Whether calculating hatch rates alongside Churamura rangers or scripting horror scenes on Okinawan shores, our student group proved that environmental advocacy is at its strongest when science, art, and storytelling intersect.
 

Leo Im is a junior at NMH and a workjob student reporter in the communications office.