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Danko Taborosi As the initiator and director of IREI, Danko fell in love with the islands of Micronesia during his junior year in college, when he came to Guam as an exchange student from the College of Charleston (South Carolina). There Danko received his Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology and Bachelor of Science in Geology. At the first opportunity, he returned to Micronesia to study at the University of Guam, where, in 2000 he earned a Master of Environmental Science degree. Most recently, after moving to Japan, he received his Doctorate in Earth Science from Hokkaido University. Danko has traveled extensively in Micronesia, where he now has many good friends and important contacts, has completed several successful projects, and had numerous scientific articles, a school textbook, and one monograph published. |
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Justin Udovch IREI's co-initiator and Danko's long time friend and travel partner, Justin was the driving force behind IREI's incorporation and affirmation. After graduating from the University of Guam with a Bachelor of Science in Education, he taught for three years as a GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) teacher at P.C. Lujan Elementary School on Guam. Justin is proud to have many friends throughout Micronesia and the Pacific where he has spent more than seven years. As an avid water athlete with experience and recognition in surfing and canoeing, he participated in many competitions and represented Guam at the 2003 South Pacific Games in Fiji. Justin has extensively sailed Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia and is currently based on the Big Island of Hawai'i. |
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Joyce Anson-Nanpei Joyce was born and grew up on the island of Pohnpei, Micronesia. She graduated from PICS high school in 1996, and got an Associate degree in 1998 from the College of Micronesia. She then received a scholarship from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to study surveying and in 1998 enrolled in the School of Engineering at California State University, Fresno. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geomatics Engineering in 2002. She worked for a year as a student intern at Interdisciplinary Spatial Information Systems Center doing GIS related work; and was subsequently employed by Pohnpei's Department of Land and Natural Resources as the Geographical Information Systems' (GIS) Manager. She currently works in a similar capacity for the FSM Telecom. Joyce is one of the founding members of IREI. |
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Peterson Anson Born and raised on Pohnpei, Peterson attended the College of Micronesia at the national campus, where he received an Associate degree in Liberal Arts. He then went on to Fiji, to study Geography and Land Management at the University of South Pacific, where he earned his Bachelor's degree. He further specialized in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a postgraduate course at Massey University in New Zealand. Peterson is currently working as the GIS manager for the Department of Land and Natural Resources of the Pohnpei State Government. One of the founding members of IREI, Peterson continues to support our activities on his home island and in the FSM. |
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Vanessa Fread Having studied in Guam and Australia, Vanessa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Since then, she has accumulated extensive experience working in marine and coastal environments, as well as in NGO operations. Vanessa is currently employed with YapCAP (Yap Community Action Program) in Colonia, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. |
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Joyce Permann Joyce is a high school teacher employed by the Department of Education, Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia. She is one of the founding members of IREI. |
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Drasko Saric Drasko is our IT specialist. Experienced software engineer, he jumps in and saves the day whenever we run into a web, software, or other computer-related problem. Drasko has recently developed a MySQL database of aerial imagery that our NGO acquired for Guam and a created a Php-based user-friendly interface that allows quick retrieval of any one of thousands of aerial photographs of Guam. He is the only member of our NGO not based in the Pacific Islands, but thanks to his computer skills works seamlessly with the rest of the team. |
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Pauline Yourupi Born and raised on the pristine Micronesian atoll of Pollap, Pauline earned her Bachelor's degree at the University of Guam. When she joined IREI, she was working in Chuuk with the State Department of Education as a teacher and a reading specialist. Pauline is currenly working in Hawaii for PREL - the leading NGO involved in education on Pacific islands. |
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Zakalin Nezic Zakalin is a journalist, illustrator, and the author and editor of several books and is currently an editor for the independent book publisher, ZayuPress. She has traveled Canada, Mexico, and extensively throughout Western and Eastern Europe. In the late 1990s she organized relief aid for refugees and unaccompanied children from the Bosnian War. Zakalin also sponsored a child from the former Czechoslovakia and from El Salvador. Her artwork includes T-shirt art, book cover illustration, and portraiture. While editing other manuscripts and working on her latest historical novel on Argentina, she tirelessly edits and perfects the texts of all IREI's publications. |
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Maricruz Sanchez Our only Caribbean island team member is Maricruz, who is originally from Puerto Rico. Her introduction to the Pacific was an academic year 2003/4, which she spent as an exchange student at the University of Guam. She graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Human Biology from the University of Puerto Rico in 2005. Since then, Maricruz has worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Hawai'i and Alaska as the lone field biologist collecting data aboard fishing vessels, spending as much as 40 days at sea at a time. She is an avid traveler, having visited islands from Indonesia to Haiti. |
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Maria Kottermair Maria was born and raised in Germany, but fell in love with Guam when she first came here to attend the English Language Institute in 2000/01. After a year in the islands, she went back to Germany to complete a Bachelor degree in Engineering in Cartography at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. She returned to Guam in 2005, where she worked as a cartographer at the Bureau of Statistics and Plans. She is currently attending the Master's Program in Environmental Science at the University of Guam, having received a full scholarship. Maria is the author of IREI's upcoming "Street Atlas of Guam". |
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Alex Zuccarelli Originally from Southern California, Alex became enamoured with island life and Micronesian culture during the time he spent volunteer teaching on Pohnpei from 1996-1999. He got a B.A. in cultural anthropology at University of Hawaii at Hilo in 2001 and studied photojournalism at the Brooks Institute of Photography in 2003-04. Alex made his first short documentary film in 2004 ( "Victory" - the story of a young Latino boxer with a troubled childhood who worked up into a successful pro career). Currently working in Korea's public school system as an English teacher, Alex is interested in history, cultures, travel, photography (www.zuccarelliphoto.com), writing, web design, and mountain climbing. |
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David T. Vann David is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and the College of Charleston. Like many of IREI members, his connection to island research began while attending the University of Guam. As a graduate student in the Environmental Science program and a member of the Guam Hydrologic Survey team, he helped develop a GIS model to better understand the subsurface geology of the Northern Guam Aquifer. Since then, he has worked at the local, state and federal level in the areas of water resources and environmental protection. David continues to use GIS for his work and research and is always looking for new ways to use this technology for water exploration and source water protection. At IREI, David has co-authored the Student Atlas of Guam textbook and was the chief cartographer for our wall map of Guam designed for classroom use. |
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Robert Wooley Robert, better known as Tom, was born on Guam and raised in the central coast of California near Pismo Beach. After graduating from Arroyo Grande High School in 1993 he returned to attend the University of Guam where his concentration was in mathematics. As an avid surfer, diver, sailor and all around ocean lover he has first-hand experience of the forces that affect the regions where the land and water meet. Having worked for many years in Guam tourism industry, Tom has seen a metamorphisis in people's attitudes and perceptions of the island's coastal resources. He is happy that people are realizing that certain natural features can be huge assets to coastal communities, but continues to be preocupied with the question: "How do we manage and protect the environment while encouraging increases in the number of visitors?" |
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Emerson Odango Emerson has been serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Pakin Atoll, some 30 miles NW of Pohnpei, since November 2006. Born in Virginia to Filipino immigrants, Emerson had developed an interest in langauges from early on. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from William and Mary, and has done extensive research on Tagalog discourse. Emerson teaches at the elementary level for his Peace Corps service, and will continue until May 2009. He hopes to pursue graduate studies in Language Documentation and Conservation at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. His work with IREI involves compiling and updating the Mortlockese Phrasebook. |
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Matthew Martin Matt grew up an expat with his youth spent living and traveling in Europe & Asia. The move in 1987 to Okinawa was his first introduction to island life (& goya), which now feels like home. He attended university in the US, his first real/live introduction to the pop culture of his birth. At Cal State Matt received a degree in Chemistry (Environmental Analytical) with a minor in Philosophy & Religion. Though the minor is vastly more interesting and extensively more enjoyable, the major pays vastly more bills and funds extensively more travel. In 2000 after graduation, co-authoring grant research publications, and a road trip around the lower 48, Matt again took up the expat life he knew best. His introduction to the Micronesia and the Marianas came in 2001 when he moved to Saipan for environmental clean up work. He left the Pacific in 2003, after project completion, but returned in 2007 and is now based in Guam. Matt often visits the FSM and Palau both on his own and in connection with IREI projects. |
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Jacqueline Hazen Born in Alaska, Jacqueline Hazen grew up in Arkansas, California and Tennessee. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA from the Program of Liberal Studies, the university's intensive Great Books major. Her minor in anthropology reflects Jacqueline's fascination with our world's vast array of cultures, languages, and ways of being human. In July 2007, Jacqueline completed 2 years of Peace Corps Volunteer service in Romania. There, among other projects, she taught high school English in Oltenita, a small city on the banks of the Danube River. Currently, she is enjoying her second Peace Corps assignment on the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. She lives in the Mortlockese community of Sokehs Island and teaches at the local elementary school. Jacqueline is helping co-ordinate translation for some Micronesian phrasebooks, but mostly gathers information and support for IREI's newest projects: books in local languages for the youngest Micronesians. |
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Brett and Emily Wallace Brett and Emily are a team, married since December of 2007. Brett was born in San Diego and moved to Guam in 1997. Emily is the bunso of 9, from Bicol, Philippines. Both are calling Guam home now. Brett's emphasis is on reducing the explosive remnants of war in Asia; Emily's focus is on sociology, but she has many other interests, including her Private Pilot's License from the former Clarke Air Force Base in Angeles, Philippines. Both are committed to making the word a safer, more egalitarian society. |
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Katherine Mutchler Kate was born and raised in Wisconsin where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education. She is currently a Peace Corps Volunteer on the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. Kate's involvement in IREI includes illustrating children's books. |
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