2025 Island Health & Sustainability Conference
Affiliations
  1. Gump South Pacific Research Station
  2. Institut Louis Malardé
  3. University of French Polynesia
  4. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
  5. Ifremer
  6. University of California, Berkeley
  7. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement

Abstract

The second Island Health & Sustainability Conference will be held in-person at the Gump South Pacific Research Station (Moorea, French Polynesia) 17-21 November 2025. It brings together local research institutions (RESIPOL consortium) and international colleagues to focus on research needs and opportunities for/from French Polynesia’s Climate Plan and Innovation Strategy, including societal challenges in island food systems, energy, economy, land-sea resilience, and public health. Collaborative working sessions this year will address key scientific domains: (1) seaweed as a major feedstock for the blue bioeconomy (food/fertilizer, energy, medicines, cosmetics), (2) rori - sea cucumbers as an example of how indigenous biocultural heritage and advanced biotechnology can combine to benefit food, health, and environmental sectors, (3) mosquitoes as a tractable target for eliminating significant threats to human health and economic growth, (4) the carbon cycle as an indicator of ecological resilience and a potential source of financing (e.g., sustainable tourism carbon credits). Informed by these scientific domains, the conference will explore governance models and social-technological infrastructure (e.g., digital twins and AI) with local to planetary perspectives: how the research community can contribute to island-scale policy and management decisions, democratically engaging communities, and respecting the rights of nature. The conference will consider all of these topics through place-based use cases ranging in scale and complexity: Tetiaroa (Tetiaroa Society’s Conservation & Sustainable Use Plan), Moorea (e.g., the island’s Marine Management Plan), Tahiti (e.g., the federation of communes: Tereheamanu), and French Polynesia Exclusive Economic Zone (the world’s largest MPA).

Conference Overview

International Research Conference | 18–21 November 2025 | Moorea

Sponsors

Funding for the conference is provided by:

  • Island Sustainability Research Fund - UC Berkeley and Social Capital Stichting

Goals

The Conference aims to convene local and international partners to:

  • Present, coordinate, and plan island sustainability research in French Polynesia.

  • Develop educational and outreach activities related to island sustainability.

  • Improve the curation of place-based scientific data to inform public policy.

  • Design impactful communication campaigns locally and/or globally.

Venue

UC Gump Station, Moorea, French Polynesia

Conference Room, Research Building (upper floor)

Organizers

The Conference is in collaboration with French Polynesia’s Research, Higher Education, and Innovation Consortium (RESIPOL). The Program Committee has representation from each of RESIPOL’s founding members (the 6 research institutions present in FP - University of French Polynesia, Institut Louis Malardé, IFREMER, IRD, CNRS, and UC Berkeley).

Program Committee

Neil Davies (Chair)

Hervé Bossin (ILM)

Mayalen Zubia (UPF) 

Tamatoa Bambridge (CNRS)

Guillaume Mitta (IFREMER)

Adrienne Correa (UCB)

Simon Ducatez (IRD)

Co-organizers

  • Erin Robinson (Data)

  • Maheata White Davies (Governance)

  • Thierry Lison de Loma (Food)

  • Larry Tchiou (Seaweed/Carbon)

  • Thiago Correa (Seaweed)

  • Jayna DeVore (Tetiaroa)

  • Jean Wencélius (Land-Sea)

Partners

Participants

list here

2025 Program

Day 0 - Pre-Conference Team Meetings

DAY 1 – Conference

DAY 2 – Conference

DAY 3 — Conference

[Day 4 — Post-Conference Project Team Meetings/Field Trips]


This conference is part of the project:

Davies, N. (2025). Island Health and Sustainability Program. iPlaces Gump. https://doi.org/10.60950/E5A791AB-46B1-4109-BB41-1CBAFBC0ADD5

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