Loran Scholar Spends Summer In South Pacific

One year after being selected for the prestigious Loran Scholarship, Morden's Finley Wheeler is reflecting back on an incredible first year. The Loran Scholarship is awarded annually to around 30 Canadian graduates and is valued at $100,000 over 4 years. That includes tuition, an annual stipend, mentorship and 3 summer internships. Wheeler chose to attend the University of British Columbia and says that the scholarship has been amazing, explaining that he has a great mentor out there that helps him make big decisions.

For Wheeler's first summer internship, he chose a community development placement in Vava'u, Tonga, a tiny undeveloped island in the South Pacific about 800 km east of Fiji. Being placed with the Vava'u Environmental Protection Association, Wheeler had the opportunity to help in a variety of ways. " I did lots of conservation work with them. So we worked in partnership with the Fisheries and the Government of Tonga," explained Wheeler. Their work involved setting up Special Management Areas around the island. "... these are to protect the reefs surrounding little islands. Trying to re-establish the ecosystems surrounding them. The fish population is really deteriorating there and so (we did) lot's of work on conserving that."

Life on the undeveloped island was a big adjustment from the comforts of Canadian living added Wheeler, " There was a lack of clean drinking water. Sleeping conditions weren't great. The home conditions were not ideal." Food was also foreign as Wheeler noted that the poor island used a lot of roots, leaves and coconuts in its dishes, adding that it was a large adjustment for a "Canadian stomach." He said that Sundays were a feast day where they did things like a spit-roasted pig, "Realizing what some people live with and just how content they can be with so little... That really put a new perspective into life for me."

In spite of poorer living conditions than he was used to, a language barrier and the struggles of a foreign culture, Wheeler said being in Vava'u was an incredible experience. Just prior to returning home Wheeler had the chance to experience the highlight of his trip, swimming with humpback whales.

Wheeler was thrilled that the Loran internship has opened him up to the Ocean Science field of study, which now headed into his second year of university, is the field in which he'll likely pursue professionally.