by Ms Sam Shu Qin, Dr Donald Favareau
This course explores community-based management for sustainable natural resource harvesting and alternative livelihoods for coastal communities. It focuses on how fishermen collectives in Bali and Lombok transitioned from environmentally destructive practices to becoming leaders in conservation and social enterprises. Students will engage with marine conservation organizations to learn about the global marine wildlife trade, sustainable management practices for marine life such as octopuses, turtles, and manta rays, and efforts to restore their ecosystems. These real-world interactions offer insights into the challenges and successes of marine conservation, and lessons that can be applied to Southeast Asia and beyond.
Student Reviews
Anonymous AY25/26 Sem 1
About the Instructor:
I would say the learning is really self-guided. You are expected to ask questions, independently come up with your ISM ideas and approach the profs on your own to consult. As we are travelling a lot, once you finish a stop you can’t go back so would really recommend asking a lot of questions if a particular organisation interests you.
Content (Structure/Organization):
We had 4 pre-seminar trips, a month long trip to Bali/Lombok and a final ISM writing/consults with profs once we returned to Singapore.
For the pre-seminar trips, 2 were for expectations, setting/talking about the itinerary, 1 was where we went to a marine exhibition and had to ask around to understand more about marine conservation in singapore, and 1 was a snorkelling session in the pool. Personally, I found the pre-seminar sessions to be quite effective. They weren’t overly long and conveyed the information needed + the snorkeling session was helpful for first timer snorkelers (and also cause I haven’t swam in a long while, it was a good refresher).
For the actual trip ,I really enjoyed myself there. I came mostly to dive/snorkel and yes we were snorkeling almost every other day. I found it to be a good mix of activities and learning and as a non-science student I learnt to really enjoy learning about marine life. The content taught was really varied too. Sometimes we would be learning more on the science side of conservation and sometimes more on the policy side. We also met up with many different partners, many of which were tackling the same issue so it was interesting to compare the different approaches. Activities wise it was so fun and you get to experience many fun activities: snorkeling, banana boat, hiking, camping, etc
After you come back to Singapore, you mostly meet up with profs for consult and work on your ISM independently.
Manageability of Workload:
During the month long trip, we were only required to submit weekly reflections (6 pictures with captions of 100 words max) and proposals for our final independent study (2 ideas, each 2 sentences). I think the workload was manageable and the profs were really understanding as well, as they would give extensions if we were visiting places with no signal.
After the trip, workload was manageable as well, especially since we would be doing most of the work during summer break itself. We submitted our proposal around 2 weeks after returning to singapore. The proposal required us to fully flesh out 2 of our best ideas. Then you will consult the profs to hear feedback and decided which idea to pursue. For mine, I appreciated how they were straightforward and told me to forego the second idea as it was unrealistic to complete in a few months.
For the final ISM writing, we had 3 sprints and it is up to you how complete you want the sprints to be. For me, I did a creative project and decided to just finish 70% of the project in the first sprint and leave report writing for the last. This helped a lot because this meant I already finished most of the work before the school term started. The final submission was the sunday of reading week which meant we were done with GEX halfway through the sem ( much appreciated as I heard some GEX students were still completing their ISM alongside their finals).
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades:
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Learning Value/Recommendation:
I think I went away from this course with a newfound appreciation for nature, the ocean and marine life. It’s really such a unique experience to be so close with nature and see so many dedicated people working towards a cause. I think I have never really interacted much with the ocean but after this experience, I really understand why people care so much about the ocean and I see how so many peoples livelihoods depend on it.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice:
if you want to experience nature, try out diving, learn more about marine and conservation, please take this course! I really loved the month long trip and would love to experience it again.