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The next 3-4 paragraphs should describe what you are planning for your EcoSpot; that is, how you plan to engage an audience through technology. This might include a storyboard layout for a YouTube video, a social media campaign plan, how you will engage others in the creative process (either helping with your project or spawning new subprojects), and more. Take care to include how the EcoSpot will engage the audience in a way that will lead to more than simple transmission of knowledge.

Note: planning and putting together a coherent outline or storyboard is critical for the Ecospot as a lot of work will depend on the decisions made at this point. Be creative and thorough. It is okay to be unsure at this point about some details, but you should have a clear idea of where you want to go with the project.

Feel free to include some rough screenshots of what you are thinking or a link to a similar project idea that you are using for inspiration.

I am planning on using Google tours to create a multimedia presentation on my topic.  I hope to incorporate several different technologies throughout the presentation to actively involve the audience beyond the presentation.  The following is a general outline for the project:

- Vaquita demographic information: general information on the species.  This section will give viewers a broad overview of vaquita natural history, threats, and conservation status.
- Vaquita landmarks: visual description of physical landmarks relevant to vaquita conservation.  I will be simplifying and incorporating a short Prezi that I created in Conservation, Science, and Community (below).
- Past conservation initiatives: overview of the PACE Vaquita buyout program and gillnet bans as well as explanations why these programs did not protect the species as conservationists had hoped.
- Current conservation initiatives: utilizing Google tours' mapping function, the presentation will visit several local conservation organizations to learn about how the upcoming ex-situ vaquita initiative is being supported.  This will include links to the organizations' webpages as well as any public relations graphics or videos the organizations have released.
- Individual impact: a short section highlighting how the viewer can make changes in their own life to support vaquita conservation. I will most likely utilize the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch app to promote sustainable seafood.
- Survey: a short survey using Google forms.  Viewers will share their thoughts on the topic as well as how effective they found the presentation on engaging audiences.

I have not yet created a master plan for this program (I will be taking Master Plan in Action at my master institution this summer), but all of my projects have been centered on marine mammal endangered species and conservation. I would love to include some kind of game or interactive activity to further engage the audience, but I am at a bit of a loss for how to go about doing this.  Any feedback will be well received!

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This section should be 3-4 paragraphs describing your topic of research; that is, the environmental issue you have chosen to investigate/discuss for your Ecospot. Include 4-6 in-text citations and a Literature Cited section.

In writing these paragraphs consider adding details about: the environmental issue you are researching, how and if this issue affects your chosen community, any lack of knowledge of awareness of the environmental issue within your chosen community, whether you have found sufficient background information on the topic, and the technology you might use to engage community members. You might want to ask for resources from your peers as well.

Below is a literature review of several peer reviewed and otherwise reliable sources for my Ecospot on the vaquita.  I used some of these sources while writing a synthesis paper on the same topic in Conservation Research in Living Collections Institutions, but given the rapidity of change in endangered species conservation, I've added several new sources as well.

To summarize, the vaquita is a critically endangered species of porpoise endemic to the northern Sea of Cortez (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2016). Driven to near extinction due to entanglement in gillnets (intended for the also critically endangered totoaba fish (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2015)), researchers estimate only thirty individual porpoises remain (Uhlemann, 2017).  Unfortunately, past conservation initiatives have proven ineffective against this species' rapid decline (Bobadilla, Alvarez-Borrego, Avila-Foucat, Lara-Valencia, & Espejel, 2011).  These include a fishing ban in the vaquita's range (Rojas-Bracho & Reeves, 2013) as well as a federally funded buy-out program encouraging fishermen to change their practices (Avila-Forcada, Martínez-Cruz, & Muñoz-Piña, 2012).

To combat this, CIRVA has established a plan to capture an undisclosed number of vaquitas in hopes of breeding them in captivity in October of this year.  Trained bottlenose dolphins from the US Navy Marine Mammal Program will locate members of the elusive species, and members of a recovery team will transport the vaquitas to a safe, enclosed space. While inherently risky, this plan seems to be the only way to save the species (Morell, 2017.

Several conservation organizations have developed programs to support vaquita recovery initiatives.  These organizations include the International Marine Animal Trainers' Association, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the National Marine Mammal Foundation, Navy Marine Mammal Program, San Diego Zoo Global, Oklahoma City Zoo, Aquarium of the Pacific, and many others.  The contributions of so many different conservation organizations will be highlighted in the presentation.  To keep this focused, I may only include local (California) and national organizations.

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https://docs.google.com/a/miamioh.edu/document/d/1ntD4LOWK2mhX0HvwJ3nJXC9FF3I-Q7ljpPa4-rhzt_g/edit?usp=sharing

Avila-Forcada, S., Martínez-Cruz, A. L., & Muñoz-Piña, C. (2012). Conservation of vaquita marina in the Northern Gulf of California. Marine Policy, 36(3), 613-622.

Blanco, J. M., Wildt, D. E., Höfle, U., Voelker, W., & Donoghue, A. M. (2009). Implementing artificial insemination as an effective tool for ex situ conservation of endangered avian species. Theriogenology, 71(1), 200-213.

Bobadilla, M., Alvarez-Borrego, S., Avila-Foucat, S., Lara-Valencia, F., & Espejel, I. (2011). Evolution of environmental policy instruments implemented for the protection of totoaba and the vaquita porpoise in the Upper Gulf of California. Environmental Science & Policy, 14(8), 998-1007.

Goldfarb, B. (2016). Can captive breeding save Mexico's vaquita?. Science,353(6300), 633-634.

Hohn, A. A., Read, A. J., Fernandez, S., Vidal, O., & Findley, L. T. (1996). Life history of the vaquita, Phocoena sinus (Phocoenidae, Cetacea). Journal of Zoology, 239(2), 235-251

Liu, G., Shafer, A. B., Zimmermann, W., Hu, D., Wang, W., Chu, H., ... & Zhao, C. (2014). Evaluating the reintroduction project of Przewalski’s horse in China using genetic and pedigree data. Biological Conservation, 171, 288-298.

Morell, V. (2017). World’s most endangered marine mammal down to 30 individuals. Science, 355(6325), 558-559.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. (2015). Totoaba. Retrieved from http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/totoaba.html

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. (2016). Vaquita overview. Retrieved from https://swfsc.noaa.gov/textblock.aspx?Division=PRD&ParentMenuId=676&id=21081

Riofrío-Lazo, M., Arreguín-Sánchez, F., Zetina-Rejón, M., & Escobar-Toledo, F. (2013). The ecological role of the Vaquita, Phocoena sinus, in the ecosystem of the Northern Gulf of California. Ecosystems, 16(3), 416-433.

Rojas-Bracho, L., & Reeves, R. R. (2013). Vaquitas and gillnets: Mexico’s ultimate cetacean conservation challenge. Endangered Species Research,21(1), 77-87.

Uhlemann, S. (2017). Vaquitas on the brink. Earth Island Journal, 32(1), 7.

Wisely, S. M., Santymire, R. M., Livieri, T. M., Marinari, P. E., Kreeger, J. S., Wildt, D. E., & Howard, J. (2005). Environment influences morphology and development for in situ and ex situ populations of the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). Animal Conservation, 8(03), 321-328.

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https://prezi.com/g6oquavjcwzf/the-vaquita-porpoise/