Volunteers are the backbone of the physical labor that helps sustain wildlife and habitat centric work on the islands within Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. For the next month, we will showcase the diversity of the labor intensive conservation work these volunteers gift to Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll).
Your donations, since 2024, have provided a $1,000 stipend to every volunteer. And since that time, the incoming number of applications has quadrupled, creating an influx of diversified talent and a highly skilled applicant pool. The influx of applicants helps to sustain wildlife and habitat projects on Kuaihelani, especially during these tumultuous times. The current volunteers are Owen Sobel, Micah Kimura and Emily McGuirt. To view their bio-blogs, click their linked names above.
Additionally, we hope you have also come to figure out their work is not solely about albatross and other wildlife, but the work includes you directly as well. Knowing it is a privilege to be here, there are volunteers who aspire to give back to those who care about Kuaihelani by offering their night-time hours to you. When you follow Friends of Midway Atoll (FOMA) on social media, and through a subscription to our free newsletter, you are viewing their images and videos they photograph, edit and organize during their off-hours, while they also compliment their imagery with their personal reflections. You are going to see more of their creative energy as we highlight some of their artistic image wizardry that will keep on giving long after they depart Midway this month!
It is because of your monetary gifts we are able to provide a small hourly stipend during their off-time to inspire them to keep their stories and images coming to you.
The volunteer coordinator, Molly Henling, attended the University of Washington, where she majored in Wildlife Conservation and minored in American Indian Studies, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, and Quantitative Science. Molly says, “Living among the seabirds of Kuaihelani is an unforgettable and extraordinary experience – and I am eternally grateful to the Friends of Midway Atoll (FOMA) for funding my position that allows me to contribute to vital conservation efforts here once again.” Read more about Molly in our blog.
The Volunteer Coordinator position is able to continue this year, only because of funding from donors like you!
Dan Rapp – yes, Dan has developed into an exceptional videographer and photographer who coordinates closely with FOMA to bring the magic of Kuaihelani to your phone or computer in a timely manner. However, were you aware his mastery of the final imagery product you enjoy is gifted by Dan personally, during the wee hours of the night as he edits imagery? In order for FOMA to pay him something, we tricked him with the arrival on his 40th birthday of a specialized expensive lens he could not afford himself. We figured that he wouldn’t be able to reject a present! From a biologist and researcher viewplane he works tirelessly filling U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding gaps by volunteering to keep a research or biology project alive, and at times is able to find his own funding to keep the work moving forward. Through FOMA, you were able to sustain the life force of a Dan Rapp, by hiring him! It was Dan who helped Molly kick off a super crew of current volunteers for the first couple of months before he transitioned to the Laysan Finch translocation project. Read more about Dan here.
Article written by Ann Bell, Krystal Winn and Bill Levin