About Me

In 2018, after filming a National Geographic Documentary about the Mesoamerican Reef in Mexico, a team at Pangaea began a deep dive into understanding why, despite all the effort and money being spent, the coral reefs are still dying. We went scuba diving with reef scientists, explored the National Parks and learned about the interdependent relationship between human survival, the local economy, and the value placed on the reef. When it came to conservation of the reef we learned that progress was often measured by effort and not impact results. Also, the role of human behavior in damaging the reef was rarely, if ever a topic of discussion within local communities or the major stakeholders that profited from exploitation of the reef.

Along the shores of the Mesoamerican Reef, we discovered many of the same issues that plague conservation efforts in other parts of the world that ultimately prevent success when it comes to protecting nature. However, we did discovered something unique and potentially favorable for the future of the reef in the small fishing village of Puerto Morelos; a public school campus on the shores of the National Reef Park of Puerto Morelos. And, after very lengthly and challenging obstacles along the way, Pangaea was given a large portion of campus to use for the Reef Rescue School in exchange for providing an outdoor and environmental education program to the local students.

This progress has not come without ongoing challenges, however. The history of this school is very complicated because the land is so valuable to the health of the reef, students, hotel developers, and those who want to sell it for profit. Since our arrival in Puerto Morelos, Pangaea has remained the primary defender of the campus and has provided funding, repairs, and legal support to help ensure this legacy campus is protected for future generations. The most critical way we can protect this campus is by continuing to operating the Reef Rescue School.

At its core, the Reef Rescue School is about transforming the way the local community approaches saving the reef by training youth to become its protectors. Our program is designed to create actual behavior change in future generations and provide them a mechanism to intervene before nature is fully destroyed. Essentially, we are providing a way for our children to protect their inheritance––nature. In concept, you can think of this as a Trust––setting aside land and resources for our children through a structured and managed program coupled with training and education. Instead of throwing financial resources into the oblivion of hope and good intentions, we are creating a process though which the allocation of resources given today, provide a highly probable and expected outcome tomorrow.

Contributions and gifts are invested into three initiatives under the Reef Rescue School shown below, which lay the ground work for the pilot program. As the pilot produces favorable outcomes, we have more influence at the government level to motivate government spending on highly successful conservation programs that support the development of youth in positive ways. In effect, we are seed funding a model that we expect governments to help fund at a future point.