Leah Tavasi

Currently I am affiliated with two projects. One will be focused on the use of cenotes and aguadas, fresh water sources, on the coastal environment of the karstic Yucatan peninsula during the climactic shift at the apex of Maya civilization. My hope is with understanding this maritime cultural landscape, indigenous methods of dry climate adaptations in karstic environments could be adapted and applied to our current crisis. As the majority of Maya linguistic cultural heritage was burned, and those who safeguarded the knowledge persecuted during the Spanish conquest, cultural heritage sites such as these provide invaluable information in the archaeological and cultural context of these indigenous groups. It can, should, and needs to be simultaneously used as backdrop into climate change education, as they are being slowly lost. The other project I am affiliated with is in Abu Qir Bay off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, analysing sediment cores taken from the sunken city of Thonis-Heraclion. This will give us a better understanding of the erosion rates of coastal cities, specifically in the Nile Delta --- an area where the river mouths are ever-changing and disputed throughout history. The processes of erosion and sinking are extremely relevant to island nations and coastal communities across the globe. In this UN declared `Decade of Ocean Science', I believe everyone interacting with the ocean must be an advocate for climate change as much as a marine biologist studying to save the coral reefs.