Building Futures: How GulfCorps Combines Habitat Restoration with Job Training
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John Sheehan
It's been nearly 15 years since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of America, previously known as the Gulf of Mexico.
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Speaker 2
The gusher continues to spew crude oil.
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Speaker 3
One of the largest environmental disasters in American history, the Deepwater …
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Speaker 4
Is that oil in danger now of escaping into the sea?
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Speaker 5
That is correct. But we've got about 336,000 gallons of …
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John Sheehan
The blast killed 11 workers. Years of Herculean cleanup efforts, federal and state legislation, and a massive settlement with BP ensued, as did the creation of a small conservation corps known as GulfCorps in 2017.
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Eric Vichich
GulfCorps is a Conservation Corps program that focuses on coastal restoration in the spirit of the original Civilian Conservation Corps that started almost 100 years ago.
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John Sheehan
This is Dive In with NOAA Fisheries. I'm John Sheehan. And today we'll hear about the successes of the GulfCorp program, which focuses as much on the members of GulfCorps as the habitats that are being restored. Last fall, NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation awarded The Nature Conservancy $12 million to fund the GulfCorps program for the next 3 years.
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John Sheehan
It was originally established by NOAA and The Nature Conservancy with funding from the Restore Council.
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Jeff DeQuattro
It started many years ago as a result of the fines from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We hire young adults and we train them how to do conservation work and restoration work.
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John Sheehan
This is Jeff DeQuattro, the GulfCorps program director for The Nature Conservancy.
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Eric Vichich
It's the environmental benefit of completing restoration and the important lands around the Gulf. But it's also an economic and community program where we improve the condition of the communities and give its residents an opportunity to get good jobs.
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John Sheehan
And this is Eric Vichich, NOAA's GulfCorps project manager. A little later, we'll hear from John Connor Robison, who went through the program in 2018 and is now an operations manager for Gulf Corps with one of the state-level partner organizations, Climb CDC. The program is administered by different organizations in different states, with the shared goal of helping habitats and communities.
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Jeff DeQuattro
Most of the participants are young adults. Average age is mid 20s. They're from all over the Gulf, and so they live in these places like Apalachicola, Pensacola, Mobile, Baton Rouge, Gulfport, Mississippi. Corpus Christi, Texas. And Houston. Places that were, you know, most impacted by the oil spill in those cities.
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John Sheehan
And so, Eric, can you give us a sense of the scale that's that's happened so far? And I guess the 8 years that this program has been around?
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Eric Vichich
Yeah, we're real proud of the metrics that we have: Over 20,000 acres improved or restored by our crew members. Over 500 people have been touched by the program, gone through it. But to really understand the full impact of the program, you really have to talk to the members. It's the individual stories of those who have gone through the program that really drive home its importance and its true benefit.
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John Sheehan
Absolutely. And we'll hear from one of the members in a in a little bit. When we talk about sort of the scale of the, of the environmental impact, what kinds of of jobs are being performed?
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Eric Vichich
Our crews are working on a very wide range of coastal restoration projects. They're creating living shorelines with oyster reefs and salt marshes. They’re removing debris that's been piled up from storms or dumped by people. They're doing some endangered species conservation work, helping landowners like state parks, national forests, and other lands manage their endangered species, which could be protecting red cockaded woodpecker nests so that when they have prescribed fires, those trees and nests don't get burned down.
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Eric Vichich
They can help with recreational amenities and access, so trail maintenance and boardwalk repairs, things that allow the local community to really benefit these natural areas that they have in their backyards. And it and it ranges everything from improving habitat to improving water quality, as well as helping monitor things and mapping out the resources that these lands have. Using their technical skills.
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Eric Vichich
Using GIS and GPS to get work done that a lot of landowners and state parks, forests, that type of thing just don't have the resource to do all the work they'd like to. So GulfCorps is a nice way that they can get a lot of that work done and manage those resources properly.
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John Sheehan
Yeah. And that sounds like a lot of pretty sophisticated training that goes beyond planting marsh grass. Not that that's not important, but you're talking about employing like serious mapping skills and employing technology like GPS. That's a lot of training.
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Eric Vichich
Yeah, that's a huge part of the program, is making sure that our members are trained in hard skills, soft skills, skills that are needed in the 21st century workforce. A lot of that is important because a lot of that is what's needed to get jobs today with our employers. But just as important, we've asked the employers what they're looking for in they're potential candidates, and they've stressed those 21st century skills.
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Eric Vichich
And so we're really proud of how much time and energy we spend on teaching things like problem solving, team dynamics, setting goals, communication, things that you can't really teach someone on the job. They really need to have that ingrained in them to be a good employee.
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John Sheehan
Yeah, and that's something that you wouldn't necessarily think to list on a resume is, you know, problem solving, which really comes into play in a modern work environment.
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Eric Vichich
Yeah. And our members get trained on resume writing, interviewing, and that's—in an interview situation is really where you can stress those soft skills that the employers are looking for that may not have a place on your resume. But once they get their foot in the door and have that interview, they'll be able to convey those skills.
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John Sheehan
And what do you find are maybe, the the spectrum of motivations for members in that and participants, you know, what do what do kids come into this program looking for? And what do they think they're going to get? And maybe how are they surprised?
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Eric Vichich
I would say the members’ motivations are as diverse as the members themselves. We have some folks that have college degrees or even graduate degrees, and they know the field they want to work in, and they're just looking for that first practical experience of getting their foot in the door in a real job. And we've got folks who were told by their parents or other family member, you know, you need to get out of this house and don't come home until you have a job and they see a flier or hear a radio announcement about GulfCorps, and they just say, “that's a job,” and they show up without any expectations or knowledge of what
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Eric Vichich
to expect. And that brings some challenges of folks who don't know they're going to be working in some tough environments, waist deep in cold water or out in the hot sun with mosquitoes, for weeks at a time. And so we do lose some folks if they're not really prepared for what is coming. But that's one of the things that makes GulfCorps so special, is that our crews represent the communities they serve in.
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Eric Vichich
And the members look like the residents in that community. They're from that community. And that's a great thing because that's a diverse group that have come together. And like I said, we've got folks in a single crew working together with vastly different experiences and that really helps inform people and expand their horizons and get used to working with people from other communities.
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Eric Vichich
And that really makes the team stronger and makes those bonds really important. So by the end of the season, they really are family.
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Jeff DeQuattro ERIC
Yeah, it's really cool to see folks that join the program simply because they want to do something different and they want to work outside. That's a big one we hear—”don't want to be stuck behind a desk,” and then we get a whole suite of folks who they had no idea conservation restoration was even a thing, much less something that you can have a career in and, you know, have a successful life and career and enjoyment out of.
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Jeff DeQuattro
And so once they find that out, they're really excited about being in the program. And that keeps a lot of people around, knowing that this is something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life.
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John Sheehan
You mentioned that the program was sort of an outgrowth of the settlement money from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, and that was 2010. Correct? Yes. So the, the members you have now must not have been very old when that happened. Did some of them understand, like, the huge environmental consequences that were, like, a result of this really bad accident?
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Jeff DeQuattro
Yeah, I think it's probably lost on some of them. The youngest members now were 3 years old when the when the oil spill happened. That's a talk that Eric gives very young folks, is a recap on the Deepwater Horizon spill.
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Eric Vichich
Yeah, we spend a lot of, we do spend some time educating our members about the oil spill. And like Jeff said, a lot of them were too young to really remember it specifically or as as individuals. But I think as communities, it's really ingrained into the DNA because the impact was so large and so lasting. You know, it's something that’s—people are aware of in the Gulf, no matter how old you are.
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Eric Vichich
And I think it's important to recognize the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was a singular, just awful disaster that's really unprecedented. But that region is not without its challenges, from hurricanes to other impacts to the economy. And an area that's so reliant on the natural resources of the Gulf for fishing and other parts of the blue economy. I think it's easy that for them, even if they don't remember it specifically, it's very easy for them to make a connection to it because of how directly our Gulf Coast communities are.
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Eric Vichich
Industries like oil and gas and transportation and other things. The Gulf is a working body of water. And so I think a lot of people get that.
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John Sheehan
I think this is a good time to bring in John Connor Robison. He goes by Connor and is a GulfCorps alum and now operations manager for Climb CDC in Gulfport, Mississippi. Connor Robison, welcome to Dive In with NOAA Fisheries.
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John Connor Robison
I appreciate it.
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John Sheehan
So, Connor, tell us about what you're doing now. What does it mean to be an operations manager?
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John Connor Robison
It's a couple things. We pretty much handle the logistics with helping the crew be able to run, making sure they have all the equipment they need, fuel for the trucks. Handle the hours and the data input for GulfCorps and Climb and kind of mentor them and help guide them into leadership roles.
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John Sheehan
Gotcha. And what kind of projects are we talking about?
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John Connor Robison
Well, currently, we're working on a couple. We're working with the Land Trust—the Mississippi Land Trust—and doing trail maintenance and a little bit of a brush cleanup around the oak graveyard they got there. And then we're also working out at the Green Bay refuge, clearing a bunch of pines and gullberry, for the natural pine savannah to come back.
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John Connor Robison
And a bunch of picture plant bogs.
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John Sheehan
How did you get involved in GulfCorps?
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John Connor Robison
I was 18 at the time, and I kind of wasn't really doing much. I was working as a dishwasher, and I had a buddy who just called me and was like, hey, you want a job? And I was like, yeah, I want to make some more money. And that was back in October of 2018, and I just came for the interview and started working the next Monday.
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John Sheehan
And so what were the some of the first things you did? What did you learn?
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John Connor Robison
Well, the very first thing that we did, we went to Beckwith and I got to see the GulfCorps orientation which, that was a new experience. I've never really traveled for work. Seeing everybody from all different colors and different states there, that was a new experience for me. But then when we got back, I think my first project was at Bennett Bayou, which is managed by the Mississippi Land Trust.
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John Connor Robison
And we took out a old boardwalk that needed to come out there and kind of clear some of the brush around there. And I figured out what quick mud was for the first time when I got myself trapped almost knee deep. Luckily, a buddy of mine came and got me before they went on lunch, or I would have just been there. So.
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John Sheehan
And so in addition to some of the hands-on skills, a big part of the GulfCorps program is, is training and life skills and just some of the, you know, the skills that you need outside of conservation work. What kind of training did you get in addition?
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John Connor Robison
Tons actually … resumé building. I didn't have a resume when I first joined. And now I would like to say I have a pretty decent one, and that's helped me get some other jobs and stuff. And professionalism was the one I, I didn't have a very professional email when I first joined. So definitely had to change that up and learn a lot of different ways to talk to different people instead of just how I, I didn't care back then. But we also learned—goals and strategies is a big one that we go through that helps you kind of set action steps to your goals to complete them, whether it be goals 5 years from now
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John Connor Robison
or 2 months from now. And that's going to help me better manage my money, my time, my goals. We've also done CERT training, which is community emergency response team training, first aid trainings, different ways. If, say, there's a gas leak in a building after a hurricane or a natural disaster happens, how to approach it, how to mark, say “this is a minor injury,” “this is major injury.”
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John Connor Robison
We need to get the ambulance over here. Kind of administer first aid until they can get here, set up different points, kind of help the first responders. And I mean plenty of more different FEMA certifications. I've actually got my high school diploma through here. So.
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John Sheehan
Outside of your first experience with quick mud, do you remember anything that that immediately pushed you outside of your comfort zone when you, when you began at GulfCorps?
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John Connor Robison
Definitely a lot of different areas we went into. I mean, I was always—I like being outside, but, I mean, we—you go and see a lot of untouched land and different areas and then you get to meet a lot of people, too. And I've never been one to— like, before, I probably couldn't do this—talk to you like that or get on the alumni panels and stuff like that.
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John Connor Robison
So it—there's a couple different things. The environment was new. The—meeting people and having to talk to a bunch of people was new, and especially operating a chainsaw. That—I've never done that before. And till here and now, I feel like I'm fairly pretty decent at it.
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John Sheehan
Yeah. Was meeting people and connecting with people, was that part of the job in sort of, like, how you would interact with the public or like other members of the GulfCorps team?
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John Connor Robison
A little bit of both. There was quite a few times we've had to, you know, talk with people in the public and then a lot with the GulfCorps, especially when we went to like the trainings and stuff, all these different strangers from all over. And at first I was a little standoffish. But, I mean, now I've got lifelong friends.
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John Connor Robison
I still talk to from other Corps, and it's definitely has helped me get out of my shell more and talk and communicate with people.
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John Sheehan
Tell me a little bit more about going into untouched lands. What do you mean?
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John Connor Robison
We had this—couple projects where we had to go in, find these bogs, these pitcher plant bogs for the Forest Service, and there's no trails, so we just park on the side of the road and just—straight to the woods, follow a kind of G.P.S. map, hoping you get to where you need to go and not get
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John Connor Robison
Turned around. And just traveling through the woods and you see so much things that like, it's just untouched nature and different biomes and different types of wildlife. It's—I mean, it's pretty fun. There's definitely an experience for sure.
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John Sheehan
And so speaking of,of making friends, I read that you've recruited so many people into the program yourself—to the tune of like 30 people?
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John Connor Robison
I would say we'd be probably close to that between the people that I've recruited and their friends. Yeah, a lot of my buddies have seen what fun I was having and how it changed me and how the the experiences I was getting, the certifications I was getting. And they wanted to be a part of that. And, you know, quite a few of them came and, you know, progressed and they're off doing better things.
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John Sheehan
Yeah. That's amazing. And so you've chosen to stay on and stay in the program itself. And now you're a team leader. You're a crew leader, and you're mentoring young people.
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John Connor Robison
Yes, sir. I've done two and a half years as a crew member then two and a half years as a crew lead, and now I've gotten to the position as operations manager. So right now we do have about half the crew I know personally from—they’ve been people's little brothers or they've seen me when I've known them since they were like nine—and they're finally old enough to join, and they've seen me do my good and my bad, and they see how good I'm doing now.
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John Connor Robison
So I just try to talk to them like, look, I've been through what you've done. Everybody's got their own experiences, but you can turn it around now. You can do good. This is the time to start to work towards something better, to get your goals and build a future for yourself. And that's really what they want. And they have a hard time, sometimes—setbacks.
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John Connor Robison
People make mistakes, but at the end of the day, they they realize that they need to get it together and start focusing on a better future.
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John Sheehan
Yeah. And another thing I found particularly cool about the program was that job placement and job services are a big part of it. It's it's one thing to to help people graduate, but it's another thing to then get them a job. That's huge.
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John Connor Robison
That’s part of it. We don't want to just throw them out, you know, and be like, good luck. So we try to, especially towards the end once they're getting closer to the hours and stuff, we'll try to search through jobs. I mean, they—a part of our program, we go to pro and some of that is job searching and job researching, and we'll look through different potential jobs they might want to do and print out a bunch of applications.
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John Connor Robison
And they can go through and call up, check with them, the Corps network and GulfCorps. They post on their pages all the time, different opportunities in conservation around the country and stuff that you could do. We want them to be set, whether they want to continue in conservation or not. We want them to have something that they want to do that they can be successful in.
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John Sheehan
Yeah, when you're out there and you're you're sort of leading a group of of newbies. Is there any particular activity or project that you find really excites them or gets people on board with the program?
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John Connor Robison
It really depends. It—I personally like when we go to a project or a new project, I want them to experience the nature of the project, experience what they're doing. A lot of the project sponsors have no issue with explaining the history of the site of the project that they wanted to do and what they want to see grow from it, and it gets them a lot.
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John Connor Robison
A lot of them are interested in that, and they take pride in the work, especially when we come back to a project that we've done and we see how we've changed it and benefited it. It really clicks in then.
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John Sheehan
And then so Connor, in addition to, you know, the jobs, the job training, in addition to the skills, you've you've been helped personally by the program.
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John Connor Robison
Yes, sir. I've been through some good times and some bad times throughout my years here and … back in 2020, I lost my mom and it was kind of, kind of rough. But, Climb kind of gave me the time off and kind of helped me personally get through that and stay working and just kind of work through some of that hardship.
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John Connor Robison
And then years later, I actually met my wife. When I first started, she was working in the AmeriCorps program, but years later we contacted each other and we got to talking, you know, and then not soon after that, we found out that we were going to have a little girl and … GulfCorps and Climb almost raised me in a way.
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John Connor Robison
I've definitely turned my whole life around. I, I was not of this character and productive member of society before I started Climb. I was 18 and younger. I was probably doing not-so-much legal things and getting into fights and some activities that weren't so good, and they helped me realize that there's a better path rather than, you know, just hustling on the streets, and prison.
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John Connor Robison
And they kind of helped me focus that out and build a better life for myself. I honestly probably don't know where I would be if it wasn't for Climb and GulfCorps. Wouldn't be anywhere good, that's for sure.
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John Sheehan
That's amazing. Congratulations on your daughter. How old is she?
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John Connor Robison
She's two and a half now.
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John Sheehan
Oh. Fun age.
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John Connor Robison
[laughter] That's. Yeah, that's that's for sure.
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John Sheehan
That's great. Connor Robinson, thanks so much.
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John Connor Robison
I appreciate it, man.
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John Sheehan
Connor Robinson is operations manager for Climb CDC in Gulfport, Mississippi, one of the partner organizations that administers GulfCorps. Let's get back to Jeff DeQuattro and Eric for some final thoughts. Here's Eric.
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Eric Vichich
Our goal in Deepwater Horizon and all environmental restoration is to achieve the greatest impact of restoration for the lowest amount of money. And I think GulfCorps is an exemplary program because of how many things it benefits with each dollar for restoration. If you just look at this program from strictly a—metrics for acres of restored land, this program is a huge success.
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Eric Vichich
Once you start to bring in the workforce development, the employing people, they're given jobs. Now, currently, while they're in the program, they have a job. They're employed. But then the fact that it, you know, teaches them to fish, as the phrase goes, that we're preparing them for a career for the rest of their lives. If you calculate that benefit of possibly improved earnings they're getting, if they had from from being in the program, the benefits just multiply exponentially.
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Eric Vichich
And so I just do want to emphasize how great this program is because of all the boxes it checks from members of the community to the economy to the, to the natural world. It's just a great program that does a lot of great things.
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John Sheehan
And Jeff, where do you see the program going in the next few years?
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Jeff DeQuattro
Well, next season, which starts in September. The big difference is that we'll be choosing two Corps in two communities to work closer with those communities. So our conservation corps in those areas will work directly with communities to help plan projects, identify their risks, and then the crews and the communities themselves will then implement those projects together. This will actually put them more in touch with urban restoration, risk reduction, increasing resilience to storms, that that sort of thing.
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John Sheehan
Eric Vichich and Jeff DeQuattro, thanks so much for speaking with me.
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Jeff DeQuattro
Thanks for having me.
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Eric Vichich
Thank you, John.
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Jeff DeQuattro
I love talking about GulfCorps.
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John Sheehan
Jeff DeQuattro is the GulfCorps program director for The Nature Conservancy. Eric Vichich is NOAA's GulfCorps program manager. We also heard from GulfCorps alum and current operations manager Connor Robison. You can learn more about the program, including which state-level partners are nearest to you if you're interested in participating or getting involved. That's all at fisheries.noaa.gov.
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John Sheehan
I'm John Sheehan and this has been Dive In with NOAA Fisheries.
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