The purpose of this study is to determine why people in the Exumas Islands and Cays, located in the central Bahamas, have responded differentially to the proposed establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) near their settlements.

Our research team has worked with people living near three MPA locations identified in a study entitled Scientific Review of the Marine Reserve Network Proposed for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas by the Bahamas Depart of Fisheries in 1999 and approved as MPAs by the Bahamian government. While our inquiry has centered on the patterns of response to the proposed MPAs, it has also focused on the way people generally perceive and assess conservation efforts in their marine environment.

Funding for this project comes from the US National Science Foundation, Biocomplexity Program, administered by Dr. Dan Brumbaugh of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

The University of Arizona and College of the Bahamas Study Team are working with three other research teams. Dr. Kenny Broad is an anthropologist leading a social/economic research team, and Dr. Liana McManus is the head of another social science team looking at broad demographic issues and GIS modeling. Both of these teams are from the University of Miami in the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Dr. Jim Sanchirico is an economist modeling the social and economic variables. He is a Fellow in the Quality of the Environment Division, Resources for the Future in Washington, D.C.

During seven field visits conducted between March 2002 and July 2005, researchers from the University of Arizona and the College Of Bahamas have conducted 546 interviews with local Exumian residents. The research team is headed by Dr. Richard Stoffle, Research Anthropologist in BARA and Jessica Minnis, Chairperson, School of Social Science, The College of the Bahamas. These faculty have been assisted by 24 student researchers. These include the following 18 students from the University of Arizona:

• Alex Carroll, (Graduate Research Assistant)
• Clinton Carroll
• Fletcher Chmara-Huff
• Jill Dumbauld
• Heather Fauland
• Richard Gilmour
• Arin Haverland
• Cory Jones
• Shawn Kelley
• Noreen Lyell
• Amanda Murphy
• Aja Martinez
• Nathaniel O'Meara
• Kathryn Payne
• Terra Pierce
• Peter Poer
• Daniel Post
• Kathleen Van Vlack

The following students from The College of the Bahamas have been our local counterpart researchers:

• Kendra Arnett
• Chervain Dean
• Tarah McDonald
• Ward Minnis
• Tavarrie Smith
• Yasmin Skinner

The Bahamas Project poignantly exemplifies the opportunities that BARA's research program offers to undergraduates at the University of Arizona. Its internship program provides undergraduates from many departments the valuable field experience in which to apply important ethnographic skills.