Scholar Bio’s
OUR WORLD-UNDERWATER SCHOLARSHIP SOCIETY’S 2010 NORTH AMERICAN ROLEX SCHOLAR;
Joshua Stewart
Josh was born and raised in New York City, far from the sandy shores of the tropical oceans he now loves. His initial interest in the marine world was probably fostered by elementary school teachers who insisted on having “whale time” once a week, but his passion for all-things-ocean certainly developed during summers spent in the Caribbean, sailing, scuba diving and enjoying everything the turquoise waters have to offer.
By the time he was ready for college, Josh had decided that a career in marine biology was the only option. Little did he know that he would get his start at Indiana University, more than 600 miles from the nearest coast. During his freshman year Josh became involved with the Underwater Sciences Program and took his first scientific diving course. Recognizing Josh’s passion for marine biology, his professor directed him to IU’s Individualized Major Program, which would allow him to design his own degree program. Josh completed an intensive marine biology curriculum at James Cook University in Australia and was a member of several international field research teams working on underwater archaeology and biology projects in the Caribbean. In May Josh will become Indiana University’s first student to graduate with a degree in marine biology. He also has minors in Biology and Anthropology and a Certificate in Underwater Resource Management.
During his studies at IU, Josh worked on projects ranging from Marine Protected Area management to biological and ecological studies to anthropological investigations. He made numerous trips to the Dominican Republic where he was part of a team that excavated and interpreted Captain Kidd’s shipwreck, recovered extinct mammal remains in culturally significant fresh-water caverns, and worked to protect Columbus’s first settlement in the Caribbean. Josh’s personal research for his degree focused on coral recruitment on artificial substrates and methodological approaches to the management and monitoring of submerged resources. Josh has logged almost 300 dives and is a PADI Assistant Instructor. This past year Josh was hired by IU’s Office of Underwater Science as an adjunct faculty lecturer teaching scientific diving to undergraduates.
Josh is very interested in utilizing public outreach and education as a conservation tool, specifically through film and television. He has developed a passion for underwater videography which he hopes to use for conservation and the protection of natural resources by educating the public on a large scale. As a first step, in December 2009 he travelled to a remote region of Indonesia to film a documentary sponsored by Indiana University and Australian Geographic about modernization and its effects on the marine environment. Josh believes that the most pressing issue for conservation is a lack of public knowledge about the current environmental problems we face. He hopes to use the scholarship as an opportunity to explore different careers relating to conservation and to bring some of the most critical environmental issues to the attention of the public.
OUR WORLD-UNDERWATER SCHOLARSHIP SOCIETY’S 2009 NORTH AMERICAN ROLEX SCHOLAR;
Myfanwy Rowlands
Myfanwy, 23, grew up in the gold-rush town of Nevada City, California. While many of her friends found themselves pulled to the snow sports of the nearby Sierras, Myfanwy was drawn to the Pacific Ocean. As a young child she was fascinated by whales and dolphins, so when she was fourteen she jumped on the opportunity to attend a marine biology camp on the island of Roatan, Honduras. She earned her open water diving certification that summer and her advanced open water the next. She returned to the program in Roatan four times, eventually receiving her NAUI Divemaster certification in 2005. Her Roatan experience started her on the path she has travelled since. Now, nine years and 400 dives later, she has added scientific diving to her underwater experience and has acted as a Divemaster in three different countries. Myfanwy finds the role of Divemaster immensely rewarding, particularly when she has the privilege of working with young divers and students.
Myfanwy attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles for two years before transferring to the University of California at Berkeley, where she is currently completing dual degrees in Marine Science and Conservation and Resource Studies. She is interested in finding common ground between the disciplines of biology, marine conservation, and political ecology. While in her third year of college, she studied abroad in French Polynesia and completed an individual research project examining assemblages of foraminifera in fouling communities. This past fall, she traveled to Papua New Guinea where she conducted coral reef conservation and management research with the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Myfanwy’s main enthusiasm outside of marine biology has been photography. She is very much enjoying teaching a Conservation Photography course at UC Berkeley this semester. She hopes to use her photography to bear witness to the marine conservation issues and ocean crises she encounters during her scholarship travels.
Although Myfanwy found her focus on the marine sciences early and has followed that path unwaveringly, she believes strongly that life is about achieving a balance of passions, and is constantly trying to find ways to juggle her many interests: music and songwriting, theatrical lighting and sound, volunteering, teaching, almost every kind of exercise, and yes, knot-tying. “As the essential shared natural resource, the ocean should be the gathering point for all countries and cultures. The Rolex Scholarship will help me discover what it is to play an active, significant role in marine conservation, by placing me side-by-side as an eager apprentice with those who are already making a difference.”
