EPIC is seeking a part-time Project Coordinator for the project “An investigation of the state of Sint Maarten’s brown pelican population, for improved management of the species and its habitat.” The Project Coordinator is responsible for the successful completion of project objectives and meeting grant requirements. The long-term goal of this project is to improve management of natural resources for the preservation of biodiversity on Sint Maarten, particularly Sint Maarten’s brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis) population and associated habitats.

A recent analysis of climate change impacts for Sint Maarten shows how major storms, which are increasingly common, will have a profound effect on the Small Island Developing State (SIDS) of Sint Maarten in the Dutch Antilles. Annual damage estimates to Sint Maarten from major storms are USD $3 million. And by the year 2100, a worst-case scenario could result in 47% of Philipsburg and 29% of Cole Bay being flooded.

It’s a bit dark in the classroom as there is no electricity for lights in the village of Boukan Chat, Haiti. The children have settled into the small school building at the center of town. Dressed in their school uniforms, sitting on wood benches, they wait for the teacher to start class. They hear a commotion from the back of the dark room and turn to see a six-foot tall Black-capped Petrel walk into the room flapping its wings.

In May, a small team of Haitian petrel biologists pulled out of the small dusty town of Jacmel, and headed their pick-up truck northeast. They eased it up the heavily rutted road to begin their expedition to see if endangered Black-capped Petrels nested on the mountain called Pic La Selle. Due to the remote nature of that area, few biologists had visited it for more than 60 years, when some of the first known Black-capped Petrels in Haiti were found there by David Wingate during expeditions in 1961 and 1963.

A seabird identification workshop in the Grenadines archipelago is helping to increase the capacity of law enforcement to protect important seabird populations on remote offshore islands. During the two-day training, participants learned to identify species in the field and familiarized themselves with local conservation threats, they may encounter in their work, such as poaching.