| About the Micronesia Challenge | Micronesia Challenge Staff |

CHARLENE MERSAI

Charlene Mersai, an environmental veteran with more than 10 years experience in the conservation field, was selected as the Micronesia Challenge Regional Coordinator in the fall of 2008. Mersai was most recently a researcher at the Palau International Coral Reef Center where her responsibilities included leading the socio-economic component of the marine protected areas pilot project, evaluation of Marine Protected Areas management effectiveness, and overseeing the national Mangrove Phytosociological Survey. Mersai also has worked with the Belau National Museum, the Palau Conservation Society, and the Koror State Government, all in conservation-oriented positions.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology & Biology from the University of Hawaii-Hilo, followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Ocean Resources Management from the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji.

SURECH HIDEYOS

Surech Hideyos is the newly hired Office Manager/Accountant/Intern Program Coordinator for the Micronesia Challenge Regional Office. A graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hideyos and her family returned home to Palau in 2003 where she worked as a Planning Analyst with the Office of Planning and Statistics and then served as an accountant for the National Development Bank of Palau. Hideyo also later served as the Bank Examiner for the Financial Institutions Commission.