With global warming on the rise, small island nations are already noticing the negative effects. The Cook Islands are said to be the subject of drastic sea level rise within the next 25-40 years. With that, the residents of these islands must face the harsh consequences that affect the things they are most reliable on: […]
As part of this research trip to the Cook Islands, I’m bringing my payload for the OpenROV which has been designed, developed and tested to excite and detect fluorescent proteins in coral reefs. This work is in partial completion of my masters degree at Plymouth University, UK where my research is being completed at Plymouth Marine […]
The team is working very hard to prepare for the trip, we are bringing 3 of our OpenROVs, and two our UAVs including Paul’s aerial mapping UAV. Our ROVs have all been through the ringer in the last few months and as we always have funding, we have been amassing the parts, piece by piece. In […]
As part of the Cook Islands expedition, the CSU Channel Islands Aerial and Aquatic Robot Research Team (AARR) will be performing a number of different studies. I lead the team which is comprised of many multi-disciplinary students, under Dr. Sean Anderson I am excited to visit the islands to help the country explore and conserve […]
In collaboration with our OpenROV/OpenExplorer friends from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the United Kingdom, Cal State Channel Islands will be travelling together to the capital island of Rarotonga, and then to a more remote island, Aitutaki. This trip is a multi-faceted research, education and service trip. We will be brining a group of roughly […]
After I got over the shock of getting accepted to go on this amazing trip I first started to look at the history of the islands. I found it interesting that the British captain whose name was James Cook, that found the islands in 1773 named the group of islands Hervey Islands. It didn’t get […]
Here is an interesting poster from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (one of the daughter regulatory arms of the Interior Department birthed from the now dead Minerals Management Service in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon blowout). BSEE analysts have used inspection and accident incident reports from 2011 through 2014 to show that… Read more »
Medicinal Plants of the Cook Islands Link to an interesting article on uses of plants in the Cook Islands. Click on the plant below: Saltbush (Scaevola taccada)
When I first found out I was selected for this trip I immediately started looking up the Cook Islands’ biodiversity. I found bird checklists and I found that my favorite species of crab, the fiddler crab, could be found in the Cooks. I also found that two species of albatross frequent the islands. I cannot […]
This species of Kingfisher is endemic to Mangaia Island, the southern most Cook Island. Despite it’s relations, this species does not usually eat fish. Most of its diet consists of lizards and skinks. This species’ mating habits are also different than most, they often breed in pairs or trios and switch between polygyny, polyandry, and […]
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