Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) has hired Lincy Lee Marino as the Center’s Communications and Outreach Officer. In this position, Ms. Marino is tasked with the responsibility of bringing the Center’s work to the people of Palau, so that it may be used to support conservation and management efforts. Her other duties will include overseeing internal and external communications, including media outreach, as well as creating innovative and interesting educational materials for the students and the greater Palauan community at the aquarium.
Communications and outreach is an important part of the Center’s work because it translates and relays the research done at the Center to the media, Palauan students, and community. As PICRC’s work continues to expand, the Center sees the need for more resources to help in presenting its work to the public. Therefore, hiring Ms. Marino will help supplement the existing staff, Ms. Ines Kintoki and Ms. Sahar Hanser, under the Communication and Outreach office to work collaboratively to ensure PICRC’s work is presented to the public.
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Earlier this summer, Ms. Marino graduated from Mount Holyoke College, a prestigious liberal arts college in western Massachusetts, with her Bachelors Degree. There, she majored in International Relations focusing on Environmental Policy and Development, and minored in Economics and Development Studies. Ms. Marino is the youngest daughter of Hatohobei Delegate Sebastian Marino, a great advocate of marine and environmental conservation.
Ms. Marino has a long history with PICRC. When she was in elementary school, her father, Del. Marino was a researcher here at PICRC. Thus, she frequented the Center, roaming the aquarium and learning about marine life. The summer before her senior year in college, summer of 2015, Ms. Marino came back to PICRC as an intern, which was made possible through the collaboration between PICRC and Palau National Scholarship Board’s (PNSB) Palau Summer Fellowship Program. During her time here, she worked with a PCoRIE researcher on her project on coral reef monitoring.
Ms. Marino is passionate about Palau and its development, economically and environmentally. Ultimately, her goal is to pursue the highest education possible and come back to Palau in hopes of contributing positively to Palau’s development. She plans to work for a couple of years before pursuing her Master’s education, as she is not yet confident on what Master’s program she wants to pursue. She is confident her time at PICRC will help her solidify her academic plans for the near future. In the end, Ms. Marino hopes that through this position, she will have a lasting impact on the Center and the greater Palauan community.
“We are committed to continue our efforts to recruit and hire young, educated, and passionate Palauans to work at Center,” according to PICRC’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Yimnang Golbuu. “We are delighted to have hired Lincy, a young Palauan with a strong educational background, to be part of the PICRC team. We hope that more young people will decide to return home after completing their education outside of Palau and apply what they have learned towards the efforts here in Palau.” [/restrict]