Meet Shale Shore and Julie Gardner, 2021 RET Scholars

This is the 10th entry in a 10-part blog series introducing our 2021 NSF REU/RET Scholars. Meet Shale and Julie, co-teachers from the Kauai Sailing Association in Hawaii.

Kauai Sailing Association Co-Teacher Team Bios:

Shale: Aloha, my name is Shale Shore and I live on the island of Kauai, where I serve as the Executive Director for the Kauai Sailing Association, a maritime school whose vision is “teaching life skills through marine awareness”. I hold a bachelors in Marine Biology from Oregon State University, and was able to participate in a semester at sea through the Sea Education Association in my final year of college. During my semester at sea I studied various water masses in the Pacific Ocean, using bioluminescence as a measure of productivity. I worked in the field as a biologist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Archipelago Marine Research before changing tracks to teaching. I have worked as a Marine Educator at Bamfield Marine Sciences Center, a world class teaching research facility, located in B.C, Canada. I was introduced to GIS through a community project in 2017 and was so impressed with the potential for spatially based information sharing through this platform I acquired a certificate in GIS from Kauai Community College (KCC). Through the KCC program I was able to create a map of marine debris on the island of Kauai that was shared in the map gallery at the 2018 ESRI User Conference. I am looking forward to bringing back new methods, ideas and techniques learned during this NSF/RET experience to our classroom! Already ideas of a “geo-boat” are being formed. Being an international community scholar at the UCF RET site is an opportunity for me as a teacher in one of the most isolated island chains in the world to expand my horizons and create new opportunities for my students and community.

Julie: Aloha, my name is Julie Gardner. I hold a bachelors in political science from California State University, Chico. My first career was in business as Vice President of online home improvement retailer, Build.com. When I completed my SCUBA certification in 2001, I realized that underwater is where I wanted to be, and shifted focus. Since then I have logged over 3,500 dives. Underwater photography was a natural progression in my diving career and served as a learning tool to teach myself local ecology. My photography has also allowed me to contribute to many citizen science databases including the study and identification of whale sharks, manta rays, and hawksbill sea turtles. I have been able to contribute to scientific understanding of our oceans through work with the Cascadia Research Collective on the distribution and identification of blackfish in Hawaiian waters, and the National Marine Fisheries Service permitted whale tagging project that allowed scientists to study individual Humpback whale behaviors as it relates to acoustics. I have worked as a marine naturalist for Kauai Sea Riders on both the south shore and the remote Napali Coast of Kauai, HI. Currently, I am a marine educator, social media director and content creator for the Kauai Sailing Association. I’m extremely passionate about the ocean and thoroughly enjoy sharing that passion with our students while encouraging them to get involved. I’m very excited for an opportunity to learn more about community GIS as I enjoy working with data to see what stories can be told. Being an international community scholar at the UCF RET site means an opportunity for me to learn, collaborate, and share best practices.