We know it can be a struggle to find the right door leading to a job within marine conservation. Especially if you don’t have years of experience. We hope that our scholarship program will create more opportunities for you to have a career in marine conservation and maybe one day you can even start your own coral conservation project. Our ultimate goal is to create a community of women that are united in advocating for healthy oceans and are working together to restore the reefs in Indonesia.

The cool thing about our scholarship program is that you will not only be supported by us but there is also a whole network of awesome women who will be there to support your dreams.

How Does Coral Catch Work?

You will be living and working together with our research team on Gili Air. Three days a week you will go out to grow and plant corals to restore dying reefs and bring life back to the ocean. Furthermore, you will monitor our restoration site and collect abundance data to assess the health of the environment. The ocean will be your office and on average you will spend 6 hours a week underwater.

Back on land, you follow masterclasses from pioneering female marine biologists, entrepreneurs, eco-warriors, and dive professionals to further improve their knowledge and skills. And it doesn’t stop there.

Our Coral Catch Superwomen are called Superwomen for a reason; they are multitalented and hard workers. From bending the steel to create new reef structures, to welding them together, from making plugs for our coral farm, to loading the boat with tanks and equipment. From encouraging the community to join their weekly beach clean ups to teaching the local children about the gift of conservation. Because we believe that with the right knowledge and tools, this next generation will have a great impact on the future, making better choices regarding diverse lifestyle habits in order to maintain their paradise.

There’s no denying that a strong, professional network can help your career. That’s why we surround you with a network of amazing ambassadors from around the world that encourage and empower you in charting your own path in protecting our oceans.

 

Why Is This Program Only Available For Indonesian Women?

Empowering women is smart economics. Did you know that globally, countries lose $60 trillion in wealth due to earing gaps between women and men? Closing gender gaps benefits countries as a whole, not just women and girls.

Women are significantly under-represented in leadership positions in the conservation sector, and so have less opportunity to influence important decisions around how we take action.

From early on in their lives, Indonesian women have an important role in their families and community. This means they have less time for formal education and less time to play and be inspired by nature. In general, boys are enabled to reach for their dreams, and girls are broadly only encouraged to support their more powerful men. That is unless they are provided with nurturing and supportive opportunities to do otherwise!

We believe that empowering women and promoting gender equality is crucial to accelerating sustainable development. We don’t want to exclude men but we want to create more opportunities for women.

What’s included In Your Scholarship?

* A temporary spot in our research team to gain more working experience. Out of each group, we will offer one Coral Catch Superwomen to work another 3 – 6 months with our research team on Gili Air to gain even more knowledge and experience.
* PADI Scientific Diver Course Certification
* Proof of 54 scientific dives using the following methods: Shark Identification, Baited Remoted Underwater Video’s and Survey Dives, Turtle Identification, Dive Against Debris, Fish & Benthic Survey dives, Arial and Underwater Time-lapse, Coral Restoration, Coral Watch, Coral Health Index, Reef Check.
* Coral ID Book and Indicator Species Book
* Minimum five masterclasses on conservation, project planning, entrepreneurship, mental health, social media and community engagement.
* Professional CV in English and Bahasa Indonesia + professional profile picture.
* An equipment book that will make it easier to set up your own coral restoration project or assist another organization with (setting up) their coral restoration project. Our equipment book includes:
   – Drawings of all the steel structures we use for our restoration project and coral nurseries.
   – Drawings of how to make a quadrat for using the Coral Health Index Method
   – Drawings of how to create a measurement stick for survey dives
   – A detailed description of how to make all structures and tools
   – An overview of the costs of all structures and tools
* Letter of recommendation and certificate
* Introduction to the worldwide network of Gili Shark Conservation

Even after you finish your scholarship, we keep providing a mentor role and help you where we can to help you to make your dreams come true.

What Are The Requirements?

We welcome women from all walks of life. To join our team it’s important that …

• You are ready to be inspired, challenged, and mentored
• You are physically fit and able to work on the water and in the sun
• You are above 18 years old and an Indonesian citizen
• You are an Open Water Diver with minimum of 15 dives
• You are able to join our research team on Gili Air for 9 weeks (starting 16th October 2022 or 15th of January 2023)
• You have a passion for (coral) conservation and want to create healthy reefs for the generations to com

Which costs are covered by our scholarship?

• Training and materials
• Accommodation
• Dive equipment, dive computer, and tanks
• Food allowance

Which costs are not covered by our scholarship?

• Travel costs
• Insurance

Apply Here

Before you start filling in the application form below, we’d like to say a huge thank you! Thank you for your passion for the ocean. Thank you for caring. Thank you for wanting to make a difference. The world needs people like you!