Activities & Events
School at Sea

- Island Expedition

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Introduction to Island Expedition

Island Expedition is a non-profit scientific and educational organization based in the Bahamas and France. Founded in June 1985 in Nassau Bahamas by Dragan and Nicolas popov, Island Expedition is dedicated to document the rapidly changing lifestyle of islands and its effect on the environment. it is made up of a highly motivated team of writers, journalists, marine biologists, photographers, filmmakers, teachers, students and children from all parts of the world. the team members dedicate their individual skills and expertise to the study and documentation of marine life, environmental issues and island culture and of course educating others about it.

The core of the organization is based on extensive fieldwork and expeditions throughout the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The founders firmly believe that there is no substitute for seeing the islands and the people first hand. The Expedition has logged thousands of miles living amongst the Island people and their natural habitat to document them and their environment. Individuals who participated in expeditions have derived tremendous personal satisfaction from this hands on approach. Exploring the natural habitat, living off the land and the sea, learning survivval skills, talking directly with the inhabitants provides a rich, rewarding experience which is forever imbedded in their memories. The results in books, articles and films allow others to learn.

The high school and college students enrolled in the School at Sea program live in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural environment. The students live on sailboats and/or camp and learn sailing, navigation, diving, computer skills, photography/film, and survival skills. While many of the students follow their regular school year by correspondence, the strenght of the program lies in its language and environmental/ecological studies. The latter includes studies of whales, dolphins, coral reef, birds and a number of other animals and ecosystems. Island Expedition offers the opportunity to students whose families or governments might be financially restricted to study on the School at Sea Program through scholarships provided by fundraising efforts.

Island Expedition prepares students and adults training with us for life both at sea and on land all while providing education for the islands and local communities. Going on expedition is alesson on life, as one is faced with challenges that requires each individual to seek solutions. The experience gained can be applied to many situations in everyday problem-solving.

Accomplishments

  • Organized over 50 expeditions covering 100,000 miles.
  • Obtained endorsements from over 80 organizations
  • Published five books entitled Island Expedition .
  • Worked officially with over 10 different countries
  • Compiled an extensive slide and print library of over 30, 000 different images.
  • Fundraised scholarships for needy students and financed research expeditions .
  • Exhibited to over l00 different conferences, museums and international meetings.
  • Had several hundred articles in numerous magazines, newspapers and books worldwide.
  • Presented its movies and photographs to over 300 schools, universities and educational institutions.
  • Developed a data base containing articles, expedition logs, interviews(tapes), environmental st rveys and videos.
  • Filmed and co-produced various documentaries shown on European, American, Australian and Caribbean television.
  • Made with Macmillan Publishers, The Bahamas Rediscovered, recognized as one of the best books on The Bahamas.
  • Produced The Bahamas - A Narural Beauty, a film made for the Bahamas Government presented at the Earth Summit.
  • Officially attended the Barcelona ParaOlympics: the International Colombo Expo in Genoa, Italy; the World Expo in Sevilla, Spain and the World Congress for Ecotourism and Adventure Travel (Australia and Chile).

The Founders

Photographers, publishers, educators and authors Nicolas and Dragan Popov, have been based in The Bahamas for thirty years, but are citizens of the world. By age ten, they had already travelled and lived with their parents who are French and Yugoslav, in Europe, Africa and America. They have been doing research, photographing and writing about the Caribbean, The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands for the last twelve years and have recently organized other voyages worldwide. They are the co-directors and co-founders of Island Expedition and have lead scientific and educational expeditions for over 100,000 miles. They have specialized in travelling to the islands of the world, as can be seen in this book, which so far includes many of the Caribbean islands, Canaries, Azores, Madeira, islands of the Mediterranean, Central and South America and Australia. The Popov brothers have brought over 500 students from the high-school to PhD level on Island Expedition since 1985 and recorded the results in books, publications and films.

Dragan Marc Popov is an anthropologist. He did both his undergraduate and graduate studies at Stanford University, finishing his graduate thesis on traditional fishing communities. He has held several teaching appointments at Stanford University's Department of Education and School of Humanities and Sciences. He holds a California State teaching credential and has been a guest lecturer at Oxford University, England, Southern Cross University, Australia, and the School For Field Studies, Turks and Caicos, among others. Dragan has made several trans-atlantics and lead the Christopher Columbus Voyages from 1991-1994 in Europe, the Mediterranean, Canaries, Caribbean and The Bahamas.

Nicolas Popov is a photographer, marine biologist and writer. He studied at the University of California-Santa Cruz, specializing in marine ecology and worked at the Long Marine Lab. Nicolas has contributed much of his work to the local community including the production of several films and publications, see page 19. The Bahamas- A Natural Beauty, a film made for the Department of the Environment Biodiversity Unit was presented at the Rio Environment World Summit in 1992. Since then Nicolas and Dragan have continued to make documentaries and have provided environmental education for both Island Expedition students and others. Today there are greater conservation efforts in the islands due, in part, to their work.

During the summer of 1989, Jane Popov joined the team on explorations of remote areas of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos and has stayed with Nicolas ever since. She has been a very productive member and even had Ivana and Mikael on the way, two of the expedition children. She holds degrees from the Isle of Wight College of Arts and Technology, Oxford Polytechnic and Aberyswyth Vniversity. Jane is a full time certified teacher and is a great asset to the School at Sea and editor to our books and articles.

Brigitte Popov is the expedition mother/grand-mother who is primarily responsible for the success of her sons. Many of the summer School at Sea programs in Europe were coordinated from our home, "le Vieux Moulin", in Opio, France, where Brigitte lives part of the year.

Island Expedition and IOC

Nearly three-fourth of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans. healthy oceans then, are instrumental to the life supporting system of the earth. Recognizing this fact the United Nations has established the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The purpose of lOC is to promote marine scientific investigations and related ocean services, with a view to learning more about nature and ocean resources, through the world's coastal countries. Specifically this, means raising awarness of the finite resource the ocean represents, and the increasing threats of pollution, population pressure, and excessive fisheries.

The IOC is cooperating with many different international organizations which share common goals to achieve its aims and Island Expedition is one of them. To spearhead this effort the UN has declared 1998 "Year of the Ocean." It is the goal of UNESCO and the IOC to engage in research, development, and education activities to culminate in the "UN Year of the Ocean 1998" to bring out the significance of the ocean to governments, the public and society at large. To assist in this process the IOC has planned activities which occur at national, regional and global levels throughout the year. For example, the Commission will endeavor to organize a major scientific conference during EXPO'98 in Lisbon, Portugal at which Island Expedition plans to attend.

Through "UN Year of the Ocean 1998" it is the hope of the IOC, that the world's governments and their people acccept scientific rationale and plans for a global management system based on sustainable use of the oceans.

Contact

Island Expedition
School at Sea - L'Ecole en Mer - La Escuela del Mar
 
P.O. Box CB
11934 Nassau
Bahamas
 
Tel: (242) 325 2573
Fax: (242) 327 8659
21 bis, rue de l'Alouette
94160 Saint Mandé
France
 
Tel: (33 1) 43 28 67 04
Fax: (33 4) 93 09 49 26