When Clementine Schnabel agreed to mentor Kyle Dahilig through the Navigating Home Fellowship, she got more than research assistance. She got a firsthand look at what it means when local talent comes home.

Schnabel took Kyle in and involved him in one of the Micronesia Challenge’s key projects, a regional effort to manage 50 percent of near-shore marine resources and 30 percent of terrestrial resources by 2030. Reaching those goals takes money, so their task was to research and explore ways to build self-sustaining revenue.

Before becoming the coordinator for Micronesia Challenge Guam, Clementine’s path to the island wound through several countries. She had roots in Tahiti (French Polynesia) but later worked in the development sector in several other countries, including India and the Philippines. “I have a master’s in international relations and Sustainable Development,” she said.

Her years leading teams abroad also prepared her for mentoring. “I was the country coordinator for India. That allowed me to have some experience in managing people.” In Guam, she also experienced overseeing the Micronesia Challenge Guam Champions, an internship program that helps local students build skills in conservation. Her Champions have worked on social media, created games, and done outreach on conservation issues.

As a Navigating Home mentor, Clementine kept Kyle’s research grounded in real policy questions while leaving room for him to explore. Her approach is simple: “Lots of training at first, and then just trust them and also keep checking.”

The pair met regularly to dig into governance structures, existing policies and programs, and possible ways to fund conservation over the long term. “We would go to a whiteboard and throw stuff and make sure that he understood that,” she says. Kyle made it easy. “He was really interested…He had a lot of things to bring up to the conversation.”

What They Accomplished

• A practical starting point: Through financial modeling and policy analysis, Clementine and Kyle produced an evaluation of options, including visitor-focused green fees, which other islands have adopted as a lasting source of environmental funding.
• Fresh energy for the project: Their whiteboard sessions brought new ideas and eased some of the everyday workload.
• A path back home: Kyle connected his on-the-ground Pacific research to his doctoral studies at UC Davis, showing that meaningful careers await back home.