Howard Forbes, Jr.
Howard Forbes Jr., Territorial Coordinator, Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service (VIMAS)
I serve as the Territorial Coordinator for the Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service (VIMAS), which operates within the University of the Virgin Islands' Center for Marine and Environmental Studies (UVI CMES). My work spans summer enrichment programs for youth, marine debris prevention, and professional development for USVI educators, including the Ocean Explorers Summer Programs, our primary way of engaging youth in grades 3 through 12.
My Navigating Home Workforce Fellow, Eurnett Christopher, worked across several projects during her placement, which gave her a well-rounded set of experiences to build upon. She supported the kickoff cleanup for the International Coastal Cleanup at Brewers Bay, orienting volunteers to the data cards and checking the quality of the data collected. She helped coordinate and facilitate a one-day educator workshop for 12 USVI teachers as part of Water Heroes, our water conservation and water quality curriculum. She took on several aspects of planning the Junior Ocean Explorers Summer Program, a two-week enrichment program focused on water safety and STEM exploration for grades 3 through 6. She facilitated field trips to UVI's Marine Science Center, helped write grants to fund the Water Heroes and Ocean Explorers programs, and contributed to building out the newly renovated CMES Outreach Room as an informal STEM learning space.
Eurnett has the skill set extension work calls for. She's organized and goal-oriented, which matters for a program like Ocean Explorers which has a lot of moving parts. She is able to keep the team on target while juggling several projects at once. She also has an artistic eye that's helped with flyers, posters, social media posts, and exhibit design, and she communicates science clearly with students and the public, whether that's during field trips, summer programs, or professional conferences. Watching her grow over the fellowship has been one of the most rewarding parts of this for me. At first I felt I needed to oversee most of what she was doing. Now she completes tasks with very little oversight, and her leadership has come through clearly, including when she led the parent and student orientation for Junior Ocean Explorers and delegated responsibilities to other staff.
Hosting a long-term fellow has genuinely increased what VIMAS can do. We ran two 2-week sessions of Junior Ocean Explorers this year instead of one, which enabled us to reach more students. We hosted an educator workshop to prepare teachers to deliver the Water Heroes curriculum. And we were able to bring in students for field trips more consistently, engaging roughly 200 students with the CMES Outreach Room and sea water tables over the year.
Hosting a fellow wasn't new to me, but it did require me to change how I approach my own work. I've had 12 years to build my skill set leading VIMAS, and it isn't realistic to expect a new hire to match that right away. So I've had to meet Eurnett where she is and adjust my expectations to fit. Staffing at VIMAS has been inconsistent, and I've learned to fill a lot of gaps myself over the years. With a fellow on the team, I've had to refocus on training, schedule regular check-ins, and manage my own time better. It's more work up front, but the added capacity has been well worth it.
One moment stands out to me. During a Junior Ocean Explorers obstacle course, I watched a student hesitate at one of the stations. Before I could step in, Eurnett was already there, using her calm, experienced approach to reassure the student and walk her through it. The student finished the course, and other staff picked up on the same approach to help other kids who needed it. It was a small moment, but it stuck with me, since it showed that teaching moment applies as much to staff as it does to students.
Eurnett is still working with me, and we're actively talking about what a longer-term position at VIMAS could look like. Her placement has strengthened our capacity in real ways, and I'd be glad to have her on the team permanently.
Programs like Navigating Home matter for the Virgin Islands because they address the brain drain that has affected the territory for years. Many of our brightest students leave after high school for opportunities elsewhere, and coming home afterward isn't always realistic given the challenges here. For Virgin Islanders who want to return, this program gives them a path back, with the hope that a fellowship turns into long-term employment. It's also how we build the STEM and environmental workforce locally, by pairing recent graduates directly with practitioners so they can learn on the job from people actually doing the work, rather than waiting for opportunities that may never come.
