{"id":1858,"date":"2014-04-07T16:37:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T23:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coral.org\/news\/reef-champion-partners-with-coral\/"},"modified":"2014-04-07T16:37:19","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T23:37:19","slug":"reef-champion-partners-with-coral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coral.org\/en\/blog\/reef-champion-partners-with-coral\/","title":{"rendered":"Reef Champion Partners with CORAL"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dylan
Dylan Vecchione (left), with his father, Maurizio. Photo by CORAL staff<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re ever feeling discouraged about the state of the planet, look no further than 15-year old Dylan Vecchione for inspiration. At age 13, Dylan founded his own nonprofit called ReefQuest to foster marine stewardship through citizen science. But the idea for ReefQuest\u2014and his first \u201cinitiative,\u201d as he puts it\u2014began when he was only seven. Visiting Kahekili Beach Park in Maui with his family, he saw tourists stepping on coral reefs and then complaining that the coral was hurting their feet. Dylan began walking up and down the beach, doing regular \u201cbeach patrols,\u201d explaining to his fellow beachgoers that the reef was alive\u2014and that in fact, it was people who were hurting the reef by stepping on it. Their reactions, he says, were varied, but most were appreciative and inspired by a kid wanting to save reefs for future generations. \u201cI made an emotional connection with them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

CORAL awarded ReefQuest its first mini-grant, and has worked with Dylan since 2010. In March, CORAL Field Manager Liz Foote dived the reef with Dylan in Kahekili to take a series of overlapping underwater images, which will be \u201cstitched together\u201d as part of ReefQuest\u2019s \u201cvirtual reef.\u201d The virtual reef project is a way for people who can\u2019t\u2014or don\u2019t want to\u2014get wet by taking a \u201cvirtual dive\u201d to experience the reef. But it\u2019s also a way to monitor the health of a reef over time, says Dylan. He will be returning to the reef every other year to study it.<\/p>\n

Dylan plans to continue his life\u2019s work throughout high school, and beyond. One of the most important things he\u2019s learned so far is that people “assume that kids can\u2019t do anything”\u2014but he\u2019s found just the opposite. \u201cI am making a difference\u2014kids really can do something. People say we can\u2019t stop global warming, but there are local threats that are equally as destructive. We can change those things for the better and help these silent ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re ever feeling discouraged about the state of the planet, look no further than 15-year old Dylan Vecchione for inspiration. At age 13, Dylan founded his own nonprofit called ReefQuest to foster marine stewardship through citizen science. But the idea for ReefQuest\u2014and his first \u201cinitiative,\u201d as he puts it\u2014began when he was only seven.… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_genesis_transparent_header":false,"_genesis_hide_siblings_nav":false,"_genesis_hide_flyout":false,"_genesis_subtitle":"","_genesis_subheading":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1858","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-coral-updates","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"template_part":"\n

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