For many science students, a lab is a classroom with measuring tools and chemicals. For Marria Peduto, the lab is coral reefs off the coast of Indonesia where she dives daily.
Peduto did not start in the clear blue waters of northern Bali but rather right in the quarries of Indiana, where she ultimately landed at Indiana University studying sustainable food and marine systems.
The niche nature of the major required help from more than just the average advisor, resulting in Peduto and Sam Haskell, a diving safety officer for the university, to cross paths.
Haskell, also an Indiana native, gave Peduto the tools to improve her diving skills, preparing her for conditions like the ones she is exploring in Bali.
Views from the hidden pool for the diving students in the Indiana University School of Public Health.
Views from the hidden pool for the diving students in the Indiana University School of Public Health.
Views from the hidden pool for the diving students in the Indiana University School of Public Health.
Views from the hidden pool for the diving students in the Indiana University School of Public Health.
Views from the hidden pool for the diving students in the Indiana University School of Public Health.
Peduto as a person, though, is really what motivated Haskell to share his expertise.
“Her ability to connect with everyone is really stellar,” said Haskell. “She is very easy to talk to and I don’t want to downplay her intelligence or her motivation or her ability to solve problems, but it really is her personality and her person-ability that I think is the driving force behind a lot of her success.”
It is like those relationships she fostered at Indiana that help her connect with the people in the community that she is helping to preserve.
Pak Manco is the village chief who operates a dive shop that Peduto frequents often. It is her relationship with him that she recalls as her most valuable experience so far.
“Meeting him has been really awesome just to see how all of this actually works in practice, there is one theory that your inn-act coral reef restoration into legislation and make it happen but it’s a totally different thing to see what it looks like day to day.”
Like Peduto, Pak Manco is passionate about the coral reefs that live right beyond his dive shop. Every time he dives with Peduto, he carries a small net to collect trash surrounding the reefs.
Peduto recalls the first time she witnessed him chase away spear fisherman in the dark with a green laser.
“It was really cool to see him taking action and his stake in this beach, like this is my home, this is my community, this is my coral,” said Peduto.
Sights and sounds from under water during Marria Peduto’s dives in Bali.
Peduto’s passion for people and the environment is what drives her success, and ultimately breaks barriers larger than limitations of speaking her non-native language.
“My work is humanities focused and really focused on people,” she emphasized.
Her achievements come as no surprise to Haskell, who tracks Peduto’s accomplishments with the vast amount of recommendation letters that he writes for her.
“She is the kind of person that you want to put in front of audiences and in front of people that are decision makers because I think she genuinely has an ability to connect with people and disseminate information in a way that’s unique,” said Haskell.
While her time in Bali with Pak Manco will eventually come to an end, there is no doubt from colleagues like Haskell that Peduto’s impact on the environment and the communities who inhabit it will carry on indefinitely.
