Denticles & Tentacles is heading to the Cook Islands this summer for two back-to-back workshop sessions, bringing hands-on ocean science and engineering training to youth on Aitutaki (July 27–31) and Mangaia (August 3–7).

​

Co-developed by Sharks Pacific Founder Dr. Jess Cramp and ODL President Dr. Katy Croff Bell, the program brings together Cook Islands residents aged 16–24 for a week of immersive marine research and STEM training. ODL Chief Scientist Dr. Brian Kennedy and Dr. Cramp will lead the Aitutaki session. Dr. Croff Bell joins the team for the Mangaia session.

​

Participants will learn to deploy camera technologies, from shallow reef BRUV systems to ODL's deep-water camera DORIS, to document sharks, fish, and other marine life in local waters. Training covers research design, species identification, data collection and analysis, and science communication, with findings presented to the local community at the close of each program.

​

The workshops address a well-documented gap in the Pacific: despite strong student interest in science, few youth go on to complete university-level STEM degrees, and formal marine science education remains scarce in Pacific Island school curricula. Denticles & Tentacles meets young people in their own waters, working on questions that matter to their communities, with the goal of inspiring the next generation of Pacific Island ocean scientists and conservation leaders.