Caitlin Rentell

Koh Mak Divers is a PADI dive centre based on the island of Koh Mak. With daily snorkel and diving trips I have been brought in to help promote the company via social media. My responsibilities include researching, content creation, strategy and communications on the company Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. The TikTok page has been started from scratch whilst the Instagram and Facebook have been active for a while but not used. Since my start there has been a significant increase in engagement across all platforms with 64.4k views on the Instagram page within one month of daily posting.

Women in Ocean Science (WOS) is a registered charity that aims to support and empower women to take action in ocean conservation. WOS provide training and development to women in locations such as Indonesia and the Maldives. This includes scuba certifications and conservation workshops to allow local women to engage in the ocean and empower them to use their voice to protect it. My role was social media intern, and it was an honour to be able to be a part of this amazing charity. My role included researching, creating and scheduling content on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Content included showcasing the amazing women around the world working to protect our oceans - from lab work to field research to outreach heros. It was lovely to connect with and promote their stories! I was also responsible for replying to messages and checking posts created in our community pages. For World Oceans Day I was responsible for creating a campaign reel which featured women celebrating why they work in the field of ocean science. This allowed me to practise my video editing skills to bring together all of the submitted clips from our community and create an inspiring reel.

Atoll Marine Centre (AMC) aims to rehabilitate and release sea turtles impacted by ghost nets and boat strike. The centre also raise awareness of human impacts on sea turtles to the local community and tourists. AMC have several partners including local resorts, Parley Maldives and Soap Box South Africa. My role was a six months voluntary position that allowed me to gain hands on marine conservation experience whilst also continuing to build on my social media and administrative skills. Day to day I supported our sea turtle and coral marine biologists. This included sea turtle husbandry and rehabilitation which was monitored by our on site veterinarian. The project also involved surveying the island coral reef and fish diveristy which had been heavily impacted by waste and construction. As part of the restoration of the reef we deployed coral frames to expand substrate avaliable for corals and offer broken fragments a second chance to grow. Being based on a local island also allowed for weekly outreach and education with the local community. The centre lead a marine science class in the island school to teach the next generation about ocean life and its importance for sustaining the Maldivian tourism and fishing industries. As part of our partnership with Soap Box South Africa we were able to connect with other schools on local islands and discuss the impact of plastic through story telling. My other responsibilities included: - Content creation and social media management - Organising and overseeing volunteers who visited our centre from all around the world - Launching new volunteer programmes for veterinarian students and families - Grant writing, funding applications and project progress report writing - Creating and maintaining partnerships with international volunteer agencies who helped to connect us with volunteers