Taiwan and Palau Ocean Science Education Center was launched at the Palau Community College (PCC) on April 30, 2024. President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr., Deputy Minister of National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) of ROC (Taiwan) Minn-Tsong Lin, Ambassador Jessica Lee, President of PCC Dr. Patrick Tellei, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Environment Steven Victor, Minister of Education Dr. Dale Jenkins, Ngirturong John Sugiyama from Council of Chief, Chairman of Governor Association & Governor of Melekeok State Henaro M. Polloi, Governor of Koror State Eyos Rudimch, Speaker of Ngechsar State Jackson Doktok, Convener of Taiwan Ocean Union Dr. Kuo-Ping Chiang, Professors of National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) Dr. Chin-Chang Hung, Dr. Tse-Min Lee, Associate Professor of National Penghu University of Science and Technology, and the representatives from many ocean-related NGOs attended the opening ceremony.
President Whipps stated that Palau has always attached great importance to marine conservation, but it also needs to make the world aware of Palau's efforts. Taiwan and Palau have always had close relations, and he is happy to see further cooperation in the field of marine scientific research. He believes that this center can not only help to cultivate Palau’s marine talents but also can help to make the world aware of what Palau has done and the importance of the ocean.
Deputy Minister Lin mentioned that this center will become an important bridge for ocean exchanges between Taiwan and Palau. In addition to enhancing Palauans’ understanding of various marine sciences, he also looks forward to using this center as a platform to allow more people to come here to learn the maritime wisdom of Palau in the future and hopes the center will strengthen the friendship between the two countries.
Dr. Tellei said that PCC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NSYSU last year and he is please to see the establishment of the Ocean Science Education Center today. Taiwan’s assistance to Palau’s education has always been pragmatic and proactive. Mandarin volunteers came to Palau to teach Mandarin soon after the diplomatic relationship established in 1999. Also, the science building which has already broken ground and professors who will come to Palau to teach marine science in the near future will be important support for PCC to establish a bachelor of science program which will be started this August.
Ambassador Lee stated that Taiwan’s NSTC and Palau’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment (MAFE) signed a MOU on marine research cooperation, and NSYSU signed a MOU on cooperation with MAFE, PCC and Palau International Coral Reef Center in 2023. The establishment of a joint ocean science education center marks a significant milestone in fostering deeper marine collaboration between Taiwan and Palau. PCC, where the center is located, used to only have Mandarin language courses, but now we have the Taiwan Digital Opportunity Center set up in 2023 and the Ocean Science Education Center in 2024. She believes there will be more collaboration in more fields in the future. Theses collaboration demonstrates the firm friendship between the two countries.
The Ocean Science Education Center will regularly conduct practical outdoor teaching demonstrations for the governmental departments, research centers and school science teachers. The program will establish long-term hydrological observation stations in Ngechsar state and Koror state to conduct marine environment parameter collection and practical courses during extreme rainfall or heat waves to observe the impact of extreme weather on marine life. Furthermore, the program will collect Palauan’s marine wisdom to understand how the traditional wisdom works in nowadays and cooperate with modern technology to preserve Palau’s marine resources. The program will also establish a database of the Palau’s wisdom through the artificial deep learning technology of the NSTC.
