2010 Innovation Award Finalist: Wayne Sentman
Innovation Leader: Wayne Sentman, Director of Field Education Programs, Oceanic Society
Project Description
In 2009 Wayne Sentman initiated a novel CO2 offset program for the San Francisco based non-profit marine conservation organization, Oceanic Society. Wayne worked to form a partnership between Oceanic Society, a Boston Public School (Warren Prescott School), and a Harvard University, graduate student founded education non-profit, Quen.ch. The basic premise of this 2009 pilot project was to have students voluntarily pledge to not eat red meat for various time periods helping offset the carbon footprint of a selected Oceanic Society expeditions.
This project helped participating students understand sources of CO2 and how it contributes to the idea of global climate change. Students participated in examining ways that their own behaviors contribute to this issue. Through Wayne’s efforts, Oceanic Society has developed this project to utilize commitments from the students to make temporary changes in their CO2 producing behaviors as a way to offset ecotourists CO2 footprints related to air travel.
Through their participation, students also learned about the specific marine conservation projects they supported, by having Wayne (Oceanic’s biologist) visit the classroom beforehand, and after, the project completion. Additionally Wayne (along with the collaborators) used modern technologies to engage the participating students through SKYPE to have real time Internet connections to the classroom from the field sites allowing for interactive question and answer sessions.
This Pilot program initially started with 50 5th grade science students and eventually went on to include 60 additional 6th and 7th grade classes as well as the school’s “Green Team”. The students participating managed to recruit family members (and in one case a family cat) to also participate. In all over 400 students and family members pledge to “give up” red meat for defined time periods resulting in over 15,000-lbs of CO2 being offset.
Through the collaboration efforts this project also had the students create blogs about their experiences, and present them in public forums at the Massachusetts General Hospitals “Be Healthy Family Fair” and the New England Aquarium’s “World Oceans Day” family event. Also in December of 2009 raw foods expert Jenna Norwood was moved by the student’s efforts and came to the school to give a “Green” smoothie demonstration to the students and families. Even the food servers at the participating school pledged to give up red meat and independently developed meat free alternatives to the school lunches during the weeks of the pledges.
The student’s pledges helped to offset the CO2 generated by three different Oceanic research projects and ecotourism trips. One to Palau to study coral reefs and learn about shark conservation efforts, another to Belize with National Geographic explorer, Sylvia Earle, and another to Midway Atoll to study green sea turtle populations. In Belize and Midway Atoll Wayne was able to SKYPE live from the field to let the students see firsthand the projects that were being carried out with their support. At Midway students viewing the SKYPE session were treated to the sounds of more than 70,000 Laysan albatross chicks in the background, in Belize they learned about what we were eating at the field station from the local Belizian chef, Wanda.
The collaborative aspect of this project also allowed for experts from Harvard to come visit the classes at Warren Prescott School and helped to develop lessons plans for the teachers based on student feedback. This helped it to go beyond a simple sacrifice of red meat to benefit world traveling ecotourists and wildlife researchers. Talks were given throughout the year to the classes about where CO2 comes from, exploring alternative food choices to factory produced red meat, explaining concepts introduced from the field SKYPE sessions (marine debris, watersheds, CO2 impacts on coral reefs), and local organic farming efforts. Students also were given a tour of Harvard’s green buildings, recycling projects, and community organic garden during the project.
Wayne’s efforts at getting students to pledge to temporarily modify dietary preferences away from red meat is a novel way to initiate an ecotourist carbon offset program. Successfully implemented in the coming years, involving more schools from across the globe, this program will have long-term impacts related to personal CO2 footprints and offer widespread educational opportunities about the hidden CO2 costs of beef production.
Currently very few environmental campaigns focused on greenhouse gas reduction carry an “eat less meat message.” One meaningful outcome of this novel offset program will be to make this message more visible especially among younger individuals. Finally connecting these student’s efforts (through in-class lectures and web based technologies) to an international ecotourism organization (and community) helps students from an inner city environment connect to nature in unique ways. Their participation was rewarded with experiential based learning opportunities that had never been available to them, this developed their awareness of how they could participate in worldwide conservation efforts and connect to a global community right in their own backyard.
5th Grade Science Students
"Are You Smarter Than a 6th Grader?"
Message by Dr. Sylvia Earle
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Naturefinder: Students Forego Red Meat to offset CO2 from air travel for Marine Conservation Ecotourists to Palau
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TIES, Heath Lackey. Heath Lackey said: 2010 Innovation Award Finalist: Wayne Sentman | Your Travel Choice …: Students also were given a tour of Harvard… http://bit.ly/d20ArQ [...]
This project engages students in making a difference in the future of our planet.
By taking personal responsability in their environment and caring for the consequences of ones actions,only then awareness and changes can occur.This hands on project is what we need to reach people and create a changing world
Working with Wayne on this project was an amazing experience. As Wayne traveled so did the students. Through the use of technology and his passion for the places he visited, the students got to experience and learn about different cultures. They were introduced to different plants and animals in a way that brought it alive to them. Most importantly the students were empowered throughout the journey to realize their decisions will have an effect on the world around them. As a teacher you hope your students remember the lessons you teach them. I am positive the students will look back on the fieldtrips, experiments and activities we did with Wayne and continue to grow and learn from them.
I interacted with several of the 5th graders from the Prescott school at the New England Aquarium on World Oceans Day. It was fantastic to see these young people not only voicing their concern about how our behavior affects climate change but showing off their own contributions to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We need more projects like this in our schools so we can encourage the next generation of environmental stewards.
I also saw these students at the World Ocean Day celebration at the New England Aquarium. Their handmade signs really helped visitors take notice of the message and they seemed to enjoy engaging a wide variety of people with information about this project. What a great way to engage kids with a project that gives them some control over making a positive change for the environment.
It was really wonderful to include Wayne and the kids from Warren Prescott School in New England Aquarium’s World Ocean Day celebration. The kids were so excited about their project and they were able to spread their mission to families from all over New England.
One thing that makes this project special is that the children can see how making small changes in their lives together can create bigger changes in the world. Effectively THE Earth becomes THEIR earth and they want to protect it. It is wonderful to see this message being shared with kids by kids. It is so much more concrete!
It also speaks volumes that Wayne and the other project leaders were able to convince the school leaders & the cafeteria to partner with them and encourage the children to dream bigger and bigger and bigger….
This is a terrific initiative; increasing the visibility of the impact of our daily choices is a key part of shifting attitudes with respect to global climate change. Kudos to Wayne and his team for putting together a program that engages, educates, and allows people to be part of a solution to a complex problem.
I would like to thank TIES for recognizing the efforts of our students and the many individuals that have participated in the success of this project by the finalist designation.
One of the main collaborators and Quen.ch co-founder, Alisyn Johnson, has recently completed her Master’s utilizing our efforts working with the students to complete her degree requirements. She has posted a great summary of the integrated methods used to get such dynamic student participation. If you have interest please take a moment to view this video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHyURN1sMFE
(after the 43sec mark there is a pause until the 1min mark which you can forward through)
I am also grateful for the many comments of stakeholders,friends, and colleagues.
As one of the primary stakeholders in this CO2 offset initiative we could not be happier to see this project, and Wayne, be recognized as a finalist in TIES Innovation Leadership in Sustainable Tourism Award. This CO2 offset program has engaged our membership, conservation partners, and ecotourist volunteers on many levels. Moreover it allowed us, a non-profit marine conservation organization, to bring our field programs directly into the classroom inspiring a student connection to real world conservation efforts. Through the efforts of Wayne and the dedicated collaboration of outside partners he worked with, this simple offset program has grown in ways that we could not have anticipated. Oceanic Society is excited to continue to work with Wayne, Quen.ch, and educators from the Harvard Extension School and School of Public Health, to expand this project, incorporating more students to ideally offset all our programs air travel associated CO2 by 2011. We also hope that continuing to connect young students to the outdoors and natural world through this program we will prompt them to explore their personal connection to nature. This project will continue to motivate many more students to examine how their personal choices are connected to nature, biodiversity, justice, and global climate change, and that simple shifts in habits can make a difference. Ideally this will also lead to a lifetime commitment in many of these same students to want to get out and continue to participate through research, outreach, or ecotourism.
Nice concept but rather misleading in its wording ‘carbon offset project’ .
I’m also assuming it’s impossible to monitor accurately for actual and real emission reductions given it is based on a series of pledges.
The carbon offset industry continually gets ‘dumped on’ for projects that don’t measure up to global best practice and are weak when it comes to a credible baseline and monitoring plan.
These types of projects should be classed and marketed not as carbon offset projects but rather carbon awareness programs (or similar).
This way the consumer will not get confused by yet another ‘carbon offset project’ with flimsy scientific fundamentals when assigning an abatement of carbon dioxide.
Finally, I am all for awareness programs and innovation and I agree with the commendation above, just (if it’s not too late) please please please change the title from carbon offset project to something much more transparent and accurate.
Simon Holloer
I think they mean “offset” in the true sense of the word, not the carbon offset industry terms. Offset is really the correct word for what they did – they set a target based on specific needs and picked actions that would result in an (approximate) offset.
They aren’t participating in a market or using the carbon reduction for regulatory purposes, so the amount doesn’t need to be exact. These types of efforts can have just as much ultimate impact (especially if you consider the possible long term effects on behavior) as market-based trades. The difference between this type of program and a currently marketable offset should be pretty clear.
I welcome Simon’s comments, and agree that this pilot project does have barriers to overcome. The main one being, how to fully quantify the actual CO2 offset being achieved. Two factors I would like to point out, this is a pilot project where we receive feedback and interact directly with the students, schools, and ecotourists that participate. This close interaction does allow us to realistically monitor reductions achieved. Second, no fee is charged for this offset initiative.
I do however believe that this program is correctly termed as an offset (as well as awareness) program. The main argument for this is that the student’s actions are a very real “additionality”. The students are changing their behaviors to reduce their normal CO2 footprint. As Simon states the carbon offset industry does get “dumped on” and that is in part because (much like our project) there are multiple challenges for many CO2 offset projects related to validating claimed emissions reductions over the long-term. Even the international agencies in charge of formally validating programs have come under scrutiny for uncertainty in how they have conferred past grades. It is exactly this industry ambiguity that our ecotourists have disclosed as a main reason many refuse to pay for offset programs for their travel.
Another concern recently pointed out in the Economist:
“Carbon offsets are designed to reduce emissions by allowing countries, companies or individuals to purchase “offsets” to reduce their carbon footprints. However, critics argue that rather than encouraging the fundamental changes to lifestyle and corporate behaviours necessary to tackle climate change, carbon offsets provide a convenient loophole to appease regulators and personal consciences.”
This project directly addresses this concern, by laying the foundation for potential behavior changes and CO2 awareness that encourages fundamental lifestyle changes of the students (and possibly schools) that participate. Further based on economic decisions of the participating communities to reduce their annual purchase of red meat, real reductions in the production of CO2 related to factory farming have the potential to be realized.
We are currently examining ways to “validate” or better quantify the actual CO2 offset from participating student groups. If Simon is part of an organization that might assist us in this endeavor I encourage him to contact us, we would be very receptive to his input.
I am a Kenya based ecotour operator and help design eco-conscious safaris with Wayne in East Africa. The awareness of CO2 emissions is just beginning to develop in East Africa. We are working towards involving Wayne’s student groups to helping in offsetting safari CO2 emissions in the coming year. The exchange of ideas brought about by Wayne in the remote parts of East Africa provide an opportunity to view the challenges that this geographical region provides in resolving CO2 emissions created by ecotourism activities. One aspect of Wayne’s initiative in the last few years is working towards uniting this initiative with sustainable tourism where not only is the carbon emission measured and attempted to be offset, but where proceeds given to conservancies through ecotourism are used to create this awareness to grassroots communities and students. The exchange of this knowledge with tourism and the local communities adapts various solutions that are sustainable and suitable within this region.
This morning when I came to my dive shop, I was amazed by the high level of tide. I’ve never seen it that high. We had to waddle through sea water on our dock and even our steps to the shop. Give it 10 more years and the dive shop and office will have seawater seeping in at high tide. It is rising and this is Gloabla Warming in one small island in the Pacific and it is affecting us.
What Wayne have done is remarkable! Because this wareness of children in Boston we have a conncetion to a community in Micronesia. They understand CO2 impacts and try minimizing them. This should be a model to many other schools!
Next week, the Micronesian Shark Foundation will start its second year of shark education. All 5th graders in Palau will meet Finny the funny shark and will understand why it’s important to protect sharks.
I do beleive that Palau’s children should particpate in CO2 offset program as well.
Wayne I take my hat off for your great work and I hope you will be awarded.
Wayne – great news! We knew you could do it. There will be many more prizes in your future. You are doing terrific work with the environment wherever you travel. You continue to make us very proud.
Ranger Rick says “way to go Wayne.”
Way to go Wayne. We always knew you could do it. We look forward to many more prizes being awarded to you. The environment is safe in your hands. Ranger Rick says “thanks – way to go Wayne.”
[...] Runner-Up, Individual Category: Wayne Sentman, Director of Field Education Programs, Oceanic Society [...]
Last winter I had the pleasure of being a participant on an Oceanic Society expedition in Belize led by Wayne Sentman, whose expertise and enthusiasm regarding the aquatic world made the trip one of the most illuminating experiences of my life. He richly deserves awards in the realm of eco-tourism and conservation. I hope the recogntion by TIES continues and expands to bring even more attention elsewhere for his innovation and dedication.
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