Gump South Pacific Research Station · iPlaces
Current issue
Research, teaching, and community work documented at the Gump South Pacific Research Station, Mo'orea, French Polynesia, published through the iPlaces network.
This dataset was compiled from field observations conducted by the University of California, Berkeley’s Island Sustainability Program during Spring 2026. Surveys were primarily carried out in the Tamae Beach area and around Hirinaki Beach House over a two-week period from February 1 to February 14. The study aimed to assess local biodiversity by documenting species across multiple taxonomic groups. In total, students recorded over 100 distinct species, providing a snapshot of ecological diversity in the region. These data contribute to ongoing efforts to understand and monitor coastal ecosystem health and biodiversity.
In an effort to better understand the pressures the Mo’orea lagoon faces, the 2026 Island Sustainability Program conducted this project to measure the presence of fishing and other boats in the lagoon to estimate their level of impact on coastal disturbance. In collaboration with Jean Wencelius from CRIOBE and Irwin Oito, a local fisherman, the data was collected over two days in early March 2026 from a small fishing boat, launching from Ma'atea and Vaianae in the south side of Mo’orea. 2-3 observers participated in collecting the data with the use of the Gaia navigation tool. Type of boat, number of people, and fishing gear used (if applicable) were recorded within the lagoon with the aim to better understand coastal disturbance in Mo’orea.
This project observed differences in biodiversity along the shoreline to understand the impact of the different kinds of coastal armoring. This data includes transect data along the north, west, and south sides of Moorea coastline. While Kayaking around the islands, every 20 minutes, ISP 2026 students took a 21-meter transect perpendicular to the coast to record substrate types at each meter. We identified substrates such as live coral, dead coral, coral rubble, macro-algae, turf, sand, mud, and beachrock.
This is empirical data describing roadside fencing on the beachside of Route de Ceinture, Mo'orea, French Polynesia. Geodata was recorded using Gaia GPS while walking along the roadside over several days in early March 2026. It makes note of beach access points. Most of Mo’orea’s shoreline is private, and while the beach itself is public, access to it may not be. Fencing includes natural vegetation, tall brick walls, and wood or wire fences. Access roads were evaluated for public/private access, often from interactions with residents. This research was facilitated by the UC Berkeley 2026 Island Sustainability Program (ISP), with translational help from University of French Polynesia (UPF) students and Dr. Jean Wencélius from CRIOBE.
This project recurates the metadata for papers produced from 1992-2013 ESPM C107, IB 158LF Biology and Geomorphology of Tropical Islands Classes. Recuration efforts are led by the 2026 Island Sustainability class taught by Erin Robinson and Ted Habermann.
As struggles over land rights, beach access, and local autonomy in Mo’orea continue to intensify, the 2026 UC Berkeley Island Sustainability Program (ISP) class collected coastal armoring data on the northwest and southern coasts of the island. Coastal armoring, especially the establishment of sea walls, disturb ocean currents, eroding shorelines and harming fragile marine ecosystems. Under Jean Wencelius, the 2026 UC Berkeley ISP class stratified coastal armoring categories as the following: ArmRocks (armored with rocks), ArmVegetation (armored with overhanging vegetation), UnArmored (no visible artificial armoring), ArmSeaWall (armored with walls of a variety of materials), perpendicular protrusions (docks, rock structures, etc.). These observational data were collected on-site in kayaks on March 5 and March 10, 2026 and calibrated with timestamped Gaia navigation data to map observations onto specific coastline coordinates.
The 2nd Island Health & Sustainability Conference (IHS 2025), held in Moʻorea, French Polynesia, marks a strategic transition from the "foresight" of candidate missions to the "deep insight" of a formalized institutional architecture. Convened under the RESIPOL consortium, which includes six founding research institutions, the proceedings outline a roadmap for achieving island-scale sustainability through four core missions: Public Health (mosquito-borne disease elimination), Island Food Systems, Marine Energy & Blue Bioeconomy, and Land-Sea Resilience. While Public Health serves as the established proof-of-concept, the other missions have matured to include concrete 2030 targets, such as doubling organic agriculture and deploying a seaweed biorefinery capable of addressing approximately half of the territory's carbon footprint. A distinctive contribution of the 2025 conference is the operationalization of "Communities of Inquiry," which utilize social and technological infrastructures—including Indigenous metadata standards and the iPlaces platform—to ensure data sovereignty and democratic decision-making. By treating Sites Ateliers (such as Tetiaroa, Moʻorea, and the EEZ) as the connective tissue of the program, the proceedings demonstrate how place-based research is being translated into biocultural stewardship and measurable territorial policy. These proceedings provide the scientific and ethical framework necessary to measure success against the missions' 2030 horizons while navigating cross-cutting challenges like the "Turbinaria tangle" and the strategic use of regulatory autonomy.