Month: July 2026

For our final blog post, the three of us- Paige, Susannah and Adam- decided the best way to commemorate our trip was to hear from everyone about their time here, following the questions: How were you feeling before this trip and how do you feel now? What is something important you’ll remember from this experience?

Bailey: At the beginning of the trip I felt nervous about meeting everyone, and also unsure about how I would be able to process all of the content. Now, I have friends that I am looking forward to spending more time with when I get back to Corvallis, and feel that my overall general mindset and outlook about conservation and how the world works has completely changed. It was a great trip!

Kasia: Before the trip, I was feeling uneasy about the immense changes in the environment and culture that I would experience and I was feeling sad about leaving Corvallis into the unknown for the summer. Now, I realize Palau isn’t as different from my norm as I originally thought and as always, what I was nervous about experiencing was thoroughly enjoyed and wasn’t something to be nervous about. One thing I’ll remember is exacty that. My adventures are never experiences to worry about but are actually just things that make me a better more well-rounded traveled person!

Abby: Before this trip I didn’t know anything about Palau. I felt that conservation had one path and it was to remove humans from the environment. Through my experiences here I have begun to see the environment and humans as working together and that humans can never be taken out of nature. I am so glad to have been able to learn from everyone here and I will always remember the community and sense of belonging that Palau has shown me.

Taylor: I wasted so much time worrying about being isolated during this trip, and not gaining everything I hoped to because of it. I’ll always remember the warmth and the wisdom I was greeted with from Palauans as well as other students, and take those experiences and the confidence I’ve gained to help foster that culture of community and accountability wherever I go.

Jack: Before this trip, I had a lot expectations for what I’d see: incredible nature, fascinating culture, ways of life I’ve never imagined, etc. And I was definitely right about all of those things, but the reality of being here is so far beyond what I ever could’ve imagined. I’ll forever remember the amazing people I met here, the kindness they showed us, and the insane beauty of the nature here.

Lauren: At first I did not know what to expect and was hesitant about how “remote” we were going, but looking back I wouldn’t have changed anything about our experiences. My favorite moments were just taking in the beauty of the island, and appreciating those who have protected and preserved its nature.

Savannah: This is a trip I will never forget. I’ve learned so much while being here and I’m excited to be able to apply all this new knowledge in my future career and personal life! I will always remeber the people I have met here and the impact they have left on me. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Angela: Before the trip I was scared I was going to accidentally say something culturally insensitive, but everyone was so welcoming and friendly and I was able to learn so much. Everyone had such different perspectives and midnsets from the US and it such a breath of fresh air!

Anna: I was expecting this class to only focus on water, and it was very cool to learn about so many different aspects of the island and how they’re managed in comparison to management systems back in the US. I’ll miss the reefs and nature here so badly, but I’m thankful I can appreciate them because it makes me want to help protect them even more.

Raven: I came into the class without a lot of expectations but was excited to experience a new culture and see cool things in the water. In this class I was able to do that and more. Something I will remember is the beauty of this place that Palau has been able to protect and the hope it gives for our world’s oceans.

Paige: I have never been more grateful to be chosen to be here on this trip. I walked in with very little knowledge about Palau and I was met with so much grace and openness from the people here. What is there not to remember? We have driven the entire island learning everything from traditional knowledge passage, to looking at architecture, doing ecological restorations, planting taro, talking with our friends in Ebiil and within the government and got to go snorkeling in some of the most pristine coral reefs in the world. Walking away from this trip I am just incredibly grateful to be here with some amazing instructors and hosts and to have made connections that will last for life.

Adam: I was nervous. This was my first time crossing the Pacific and flying alone. I didn’t know what to expect, and if the 19 people I met in the next few hours would ever be friends in this strange place thousands of miles away. This place now feels like a home with the community I have built with my classmates, along with all of the people I met here and their kindness.

Susannah: Before this trip, I felt scared to travel alone, nervous to be somewhere new, but also curious and ecstatic about such a cool opportunity to learn in a beautiful place. I leave feeling not so scared anymore. The truth is, even being in a new place with no one you know, you can never be alone. The people I’ve met here and the Palauans I’ve learned from made this world feel not so big. What I’ll take from this experience is hope. Hope for healthier oceans, more collaborative conservation strategies, and a world of people who help eachother.

Issie: Initially with this trip I was unsure if I was enough because I was the youngest in the group but after the two weeks I’m confident in what my strengths and weaknesses are. One thing I’ll remember is the community in the class and the people around us since it was the first time where I saw people so tight knit even if they’re not related to each other!

Noah: Before the trip I was feeling a little nervous about traveling abroad and being in a foreign country with people I didn’t know. However I’ve had an amazing time getting to know everybody on the trip. I’ve learned so much and it’s really changed my perspective on conservation and sustainability. I want to always remember the natural beauty and connections I made throughout the course.

Now, on behalf of the Ridge to Reef class of 2026, we’d like to thank everyone who made this trip what it was.

Thank you to our families and friends for supporting us. We can’t wait to come home and tell you everything we’ve learned.

Thank you to the Ebiil Society for hosting us for a week and welcoming us into your home. You shared your knowledge with patience and openness, happy to answer our endless questions and share unique experiences with us. Whether it was preparing food together, learning about traditional practices, or simply sitting in conversation, every moment meant the world to us.

We would also like to thank all the guides and people we’ve met on this trip. Thank you to Paddling Palau and Palau Community College for spending your time with us. People like Anne, Joyce, Iseko, Ilima, Daemi, Chris, Mac, and everyone else inspire us with their committment to making a difference.

As we reflect on our time here, we are struck by a strong feeling of hope. In a world where environmental challenges can often feel overwhelming, Palau stands as a powerful example of resilience and responsibility. The commitment of Palauans to protecting their natural resources, while maintining cultural traditions and knowledge, reminds us that change is not only possible but already happening.

For a lot of us, this experience has strengthened our own sense of purpose. We all share a deep care for the oceans and our planet, and this trip has solidifed that even further. No matter how difficult things get, no matter who tells us something isn’t possible, we are reminded here why it is worth continuing to fight. We will continue to go out into the world with questions, curiosities, and endless wonder.

The resilience of Palau and its people will stay with us long after we leave. It is a reminder that hope is something built through dedication, community, and an unwavering belief in a better future. For that lesson, and for everything you’ve shared with us, we are endlessly grateful.

Thank you to Bryan, Scott, Maren, and Selina for your time, dedication, hard work, and mentorship throughout this incredible experience. Your passions for this place are what allowed all of us to one day come, and we will never forget these past few weeks you’ve shared with us.

And lastly, thank you to the Ridge to Reef classes of past years for paving the way for us. As Selina says, conservation is about people. Let’s keep being those people who, despite everything, continue to fight for this world.

Ridge to Reef class of 2026, signing out.

Today we met up with PCC (Palau community college) to learn more about their DNA sequencing of Coconut Rinocerous Beetles, an invasive species that has damaged many of the coconut trees in the Pacific islands, with the beetles targeting the palm fronds specifically. The head researcher of the lab, Chris, explained why the lab is dedicated to finding which beetle had a virus that changes the beetle population. The main goal was slowing the beetle population with the virus, but not completley wiping them out, since their larvae is important for mulch in local agriculture.

When arriving at PCC, protective wear was put on and a dead beetle was handed to each student, starting with the breaking off the back legs. Next the wings and head were removed as waste, then guts and fat were sorted and labelled. Solutions were pipetted and mixed with guts, allowing them to incubate together. From this process we could determine wether the beetle was a carrier for the virus.

Lastly we met with Deimi (an OSU alum!) at the Bureau of Fisheries, and she gave us an insight on her work, specifically discussing the impacts of climate change and tourism on fisheries management in Palau. They shared a project they’re developing which would moniter boats to better understand safety when it comes to overfishing or crossing protected reef areas. One of their long term goals aimed to build regional and global partnerships, and update fishing regulations since some of the policies are outdated.

Finally, we all sat down and had our last dinner together as a class! It’s been a great 2 weeks, and we’ve all learned a lot while enjoying our time on the island.

Anna and Izzy signing off!

We are coming up to the end of the trip now and today was our last day in the water. We spent another day at the rock islands, this time with the Palau Community College crew. We first went to Metukruikull, a protected rock island. Here we listened to Chris Kitalong give a talk. We learned that this island used to be inhabited but now stands barren. The rock islands used to be a good place for villages since the people would have easy access to the water, and thus their food. Some villages even caught fish and put them in the marine lakes as a back up food source. Chris also talked about some of the conservation efforts at this and other islands. A lot of these efforts were brought on by foreigners without much consultation from the Palauan people. One example of this is the protection of sea turtles, which sounds like a good thing but cut a lot of the cultural ties that the Palauans had with hunting turtles for food and currency made from the turtles shells. The turtles that were hunted by the Palauans had ample numbers in Palau and the practices from the Palauans were not endangering them. After learning from Chris we snorkeled off of the island, some students saw lion fish, pajama cardinal fish, butterfly fish, and more!

After leaving Metukruikull we went to Ngarmeaus, which provided a stark contrast since Ngarmeaus is not a protected island, and is a common spot for tourists. The island was beautiful and cleaner than Metukruikull since it is actively managed. It did have much more area cleared, however, for building summer houses. We sat in one of the summer houses and ate lunch, then snorkeled Ngarmeau’s luscious shores. Here we saw lots of cool critters, including many blacktip sharks! One boat was chumming the waters which brought many small fish and sharks to the surface. Whether this is legal or not I am not sure but it did make for a spectacular view for us.

We ended our snorkeling by going to the cemetery reef. The reef has a fitting name as most of the coral here is dead and breaking off. This has happened mostly due to a mass bleaching event and continual use. This reef is known as a “sacrifice” reef. Many tourists are brought here which kills the reef but keeps foot traffic out of some of the healthier reefs of Palau. Here we saw many large Napoleon wrasse which stayed at the surface due to people feeding them. This has contrasted our experiences snorkeling previous days where the wildlife was protected and had less contact with humans.

Today we were back on land from being on the water the past three days, which was very needed for the sake of our motion/sea sickness. We ran around town, going from PCC, to the recycling plant, to Surangel’s, to the Etpison Museum. 

PCC Research & Development Station

We started off at the Palau Community College (PCC) Research & Development Station, learning about their taro tissue culture which can grow 200 to 1,000 taro from one stalk. They are the only botany research station in Palau and is a land grant organization. We are super fortunate to be able to see the inner workings of the plant tissue culture cultivation site, led by Chris Kitalong, who has been working with OSU since the Ridge to Reef class started!

The lab does amazing work in Palau to prevent mono-cropping through preserving the thousands of varieties of taro alive, in addition to attempting to make taro the superfood for the Pacific, which could help with reducing diabetes in Palau. 

Along with taro, PCC grows sweet potato, vanillas, orchids, pineapples, passion fruits, bananas, and many more!

After the tissues are grown (stage 1), they are moved to the small greenhouse (stage 2), then to the bigger greenhouse (stage 3), and finally it goes out to the community based on their needs. 

We were then given a tour of the animal husbandry areas for PCC students, where they learn to take care of animals. The animals are sometimes used for monumental traditional Palauan ceremonies. 

Surangel’s Super Center

We took a quick stop by the super store Surangel’s, where we got some gelato for an afternoon sweet treat!

Koror State Solid Waste Management Office & Belau Eco Glass

Our next adventure took us to the state’s recycling station, which receives Palau’s recycling and makes useful materials from them. They do amazing work keeping recyclable trash out of the landfills. These are some of the ways that the plastic are utilized: Sold to Taiwan, made into clothing, and made into oil (which powers the operations of the recycling plant). 

Glass recycling is also utilized, and are either crushed and given to construction companies to make into concrete, or made into fun jewelry/decorative eco-glass! As a small island, Palau has to look at resources differently and do what they can to make sure as little waste is produced as possible. Latest reports show about 25-30% of waste in Palau being recycled, along with a 88% redemption rate. 

Etpison Museum

Our last stop of the day is to the Etpison Museum, where we learned more about the historical traditions and stories of Palau. For example, we learned about how a long time ago, a pregnant woman ate the forbidden fruit KEAM nut and turned into a dugong! In the Etpison Museum, children left unattended will be towed away. 

Today’s blog was written by Angela and Lauren 🙂

Today we continued our time learning and experiencing local tourism and finally made our way to see the notorious Jellyfish Lake. This is a marine lake that can contain millions of jellyfish in a good bloom year. We learned that this is also not the only marine lake with jellyfish like this across the rock islands and actually is one of the sacrificial lakes they have made to provide tourists with a closer look at what the rock islands are like. These islands are heavily protected by the rangers here.

We took a short boat ride to get to the UNESCO world heritage site, Ongeim L’Tketau which is where the lake is. We learned that the jellyfish life cycle goes from a fertilized egg to a planula which will plant itself onto the surface to become a polyp. This polyp will grow into a budding polyp to become an ephyra and finally to an adult medusa which was what we saw today. Since these jellies don’t sting, people are able to swim in the lake and be surrounded by millions of jellies without any fear. There are two kinds of jellyfish in the lake the golden jelly and the moon jellyfish, both of which we saw today! We swam with and around them and also simultaneously got caught in a very heavy rainstorm!

We then took another boat ride with our group to a long sandbar pinpointed between a few of the rock islands. Some of us wandered off to look at shells and sand dollars and others of us did a little bit of yoga…

We then hopped back into the boat and found our way back into the water for some more snorkeling with our guide Mac! Our first snorkel site was located near New Dropoff where we swam along a steep drop and saw some amazing animals including gray reef sharks and hawksbill sea turtles who were swimming below us! There were lots of different fish and huge amounts of coral all along the reef drop. Mac even let one of our classmates, Raven, pick up a huge sea cucumber which made her very happy.

Our second site was within the false German Channel. This area is more popular for tourists, so when we arrived there were other groups with us as well. The experience gave us a good time to reflect more on ecotourism and how important and big it is for Palau as a main source of revenue, especially since the past few days we have been sheltered from that. The reef was still beautiful and there were so many kinds of cool fish to see, but you could tell that the coral was much more damaged than ones we have seen in other spots. The other group that was with us had screaming children and people who were kicking or standing on the coral. It was incredibly frustrating and demonstrated how important this type of education is for tourists since we have been hearing since we got here about not touching the reef and making sure to not disturb anything. What they were doing can be damaging to the corals as they’re a living creature and are very important for marine ecosystems, however Palau does have regulations in place to deal with these kinds of tourists like the sacrificial areas we mentioned before with Jelly Fish Lake. This reef is what you could call a “sacrifice reef”, as it is a spot specifically designated for tourists to go to, so they don’t have to worry about the damages they cause.

Our third site was the coral garden. The coral garden was incredibly beautiful with a diverse array of corals in all shapes and sizes. Some of the table top corals were larger than our tallest students! This was one of our shorter snorkels of the trip, so we quickly loaded back into the boat only to be met with a heavy rainstorm. It was a cold and wet ride back to the dock but luckily we made it back safely and to the car only to find it in about half a foot of water.

Only 4 more days of traveling left!

Written by Paige and Savannah!