The Program

In the Southern Pacific, French Polynesia covers an area greater than the European Union, yet only 0.1% of it is land. This vast expanse — more than 118 tropical islands and atolls, ringed by lagoons and coral reefs — holds some of the Pacific's richest marine biodiversity, drawing sea-loving travelers hoping to meet rays, turtles, sharks and dolphins face-to-face. Due in part to its isolation, it remains among the best-preserved ocean regions on the planet.

Descending from skilled navigators who settled across the Pacific, Polynesian people inhabit these environmentally dynamic volcanic islands and atolls with a deep connection to the ocean around them — profoundly linked to the coral reefs that provide food, revenue and shoreline protection.

Despite pressure from urbanization, tourism and overfishing, these reefs have proven remarkably resilient, many healthier than reefs in the Caribbean or Indian Ocean. Yet marine heatwaves, coral bleaching, coastal development, invasive species and changing ocean chemistry increasingly threaten them, making their conservation one of the most urgent challenges of our time — one requiring scientists, Indigenous communities, managers and stakeholders to protect the reefs' biodiversity while sustaining the local resources island life depends on.

As a team, we study these ecosystems to understand the long-term trends set in motion by a rapidly changing environment. With coral reefs as our primary focus, we snorkel lagoons and run ecological surveys to examine how warmer, more acidic seas, pollution and rising water alter the marine environment — and how local communities and fisheries interact with the reef.

We then turn to the connected watersheds: streams whose few species spend part of their life cycle at sea, now threatened by artificialization and sediment extraction, and inland rainforest where native flora and fauna need protection from invasive species. Working alongside local activists, scientists and stakeholders, we examine — and where we can, contribute to — efforts to restore these ecosystems.

Students learn to identify the organisms and features of this wondrous landscape and the survey methods used to assess ecological health, while engaging with a rich Indigenous culture in the midst of revival. The result is key field research skills, a deep understanding of marine ecosystems and climate change, and a rare chance to study coral reefs that have so far defied the odds.

Spring — The Leeward Islands. Our spring expedition follows the Leeward Islands of the Society Archipelago — Bora Bora, Raiatea, Taha'a, Huahine and Maupiti — each a natural laboratory of barrier reefs, lagoon passes, volcanic slopes and coastal forests. Moving island to island, students compare places that differ in ecology, history and conservation pressures, grasping island resilience firsthand as they survey some of the archipelago's most vibrant coral reefs.

Summer — Tahiti & Moorea. Our summer expedition investigates the picture-perfect islands of Tahiti and Moorea, studying their rich tropical ecosystems up close. The season also brings the humpback whales that come to these warm waters for breeding every July.