When we first met Dave Benavente in 2017, he was serving as the Lead Biologist for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality. Dave first learned about the Network through a colleague, who returned from a Network training and shared his experiences. In 2017, Dave then attended the Network’s Integrating Ecosystem Services into Coral Reef Policy and Management training. This was his first opportunity to connect in-person with reef managers from other places to share lessons and advice on local reef management. “It was pivotal for me. It empowered me to convey scientific concepts to the local community for buy-in. It’s all about helping people have “lightbulb" moments,” Dave said. When he returned to the CNMI, Dave was better equipped to communicate needs to high-level management and write management handbooks, grants, and policies to benefit CNMI’s coral reefs.
To deepen his understanding of restoration and to enhance coral cover following mass bleaching events, Dave later enrolled in the Network’s Coral Reef Restoration Online Course to learn how to establish and manage a nursery. With mentorship from Network staff, he developed the CNMI Resilience Plan, which continues to be used to guide restoration work in the Commonwealth today. Although Dave has since taken on a new role as a Project Manager/Marine Biologist with the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance, a local non-profit focused on empowering local communities to engage in environmental stewardship, he remains actively involved in the maintenance of two coral nurseries and training of new rangers. Also, as a newly appointed lecturer at the Northern Marianas College, Dave is incorporating materials from his Network trainings into his lectures on coral restoration and ecosystem services and is eager to share their significance with his students.
