Elaina Todd

The Basics

Name

Elaina Todd

Region

Guam

My Conservation Work

Job Title

Special Project Coordinator

Employer

Bureau of Statistics and Plans: Guam Coastal Management Program

Elaina Todd's Public Profile

About Me

Elaina Todd is a NOAA Coral Reef Management Fellow currently working with the Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans as a host agency. Elaina has a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from the University of Guam, with a focus on Guam’s ecology and natural resources. Working with the Guam Coastal Management Program, Elaina’s duties include managing the International Year of the Reef (IYOR) and the Rare Pride campaign (upon acceptance). Having lived in Guam for over 17 years , Elaina has been actively involved numerous community conservation initiatives in Guam, including being a member of the Guam Environmental Education Committee and spearheading several local outreach initiatives from beach clean-ups to developing free educational outreach programs for Guam’s schools. She is passionate and dedicated to the conservation of Guam’s coral reefs.

I Knew I was a Conservationist When....

I can't actually remember the first moment I knew.. I feel like I have been one my whole life, since I was a little kid. My mom was a great role model and always told us, "you should always leave a place better than when you found it". I think the real passion for driving conservation happened when I was in high school and I was involved with a club called Marine Mania. Under the leadership of Ms. Linda Tatreau, I learned that there were so many little things I could do to make my home a better place (and that there was also soooo much left to be done). I met other people who were passionate like I was and realized that when we worked together, we could make a real difference in a short amount of time. I also realized that I had a wild energy that I could use to convince others to help (whether they really wanted to or not!) It was all sort of a blur from there! 16 years later, though a little wiser and older, I am still just as excited as I was then and even more committed to tackling some of serious threats to our island's natural resources and empowering my fellow islanders to do something about them.

 

My Contributions

Campaign Blog

CIS presentation

Here is the presentation I shared at the conference... not my best work, was time restricted since they changed my date and I am a procrastinator, but thanks to some awesome presentation skills learned from Rare (thanks Laurie) it went over great!  Shared lots of stories, personal experiences and thoughts, and of course lessons learned.  I hope to get many opportunities to share lessons learned and make this even better :)

Posted by etodd in Campaign for Effective Watershed Management/Guam on 2011-04-25
Campaign Blog

conference feedback :) ENCOURAGING WORDS!

Yesterday I presented the Na Para i Guafi campaign at the Center for Island Sustainability Conference.  There were a few quirks but thanks to my critical anaylsis presentation, I had a great place to start! (Thanks Rare!)  The audience was so great and responsive and I had wonderful humbling feedback.  I wanted to share a comment from a person who attended who has also been a partner in the campaign... This speaks to the true value of these campaigns and the need to continue the kind of work we are doing!

Posted by etodd in Campaign for Effective Watershed Management/Guam on 2011-04-20
Campaign Blog

Conference Presentation

I opened my inbox this morning and this is what I saw:
The Center for Island Sustainability (CIS) at the University of Guam is pleased to inform you that your presentation entitled - Na'para i Guafi - Southern Watersheds Campaign- has been selected as one of our presenters for our upcoming conference on sustainability issues unique to our island communities– April 19-20 at the Hyatt Regency Guam. With this year’s theme - Guam 2050: Developing a Sustainable Future: What is the cost of Doing Nothing?- we received many timely and engaging proposals.

Posted by etodd in Campaign for Effective Watershed Management/Guam on 2011-04-04
Campaign Blog

the 3 month blur! (quarterly report)

(SORRY, PICTURES ARE COMING- HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, FOR NOW, TEXT ONLY)

The last three months have been a blur!  Since returning from Arlington, just about everything that could change has changed, and boy is that adaptive management training coming in handy!

Last month, we hosted another series of three hunter expos in the villages of Talofofo, Mangilao, and Chalan Pago.  They went well, though the last two were not as well attended as we had hoped.  We were able to distribute the rest of the deer attractants and build our hunter database, which now contains over 115 hunters! 

Posted by etodd in Campaign for Effective Watershed Management/Guam on 2011-04-04
Campaign Blog

and the BROP goes on.. without me!

As part of our matching funds for our BROP, the Guam Coastal Management partnered with the Division of Soil and Forestry Resources to conduct watershed restoration in the Masso watershed in the village of Piti.  We could not do the project ourselves because of.. well.. the Rare campagin and other projects kept us pretty busy.

The project met a few stalls, but ultimately took off with the faciliation assistance of the non-profit organization, the Guam Environmental Alliance (of which I am a proud board member!) and Marianas RC&D,  The first of several massive volunteer driven tree planting effort is scheduled for tomorrow morning where about 1,500 native trees will be planted! 

See facebook link here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163321087031482

Hurray for campaign partnership results: increased constituency and capacity resulting in conservation!

Posted by etodd in Campaign for Effective Watershed Management/Guam on 2010-11-11