JAKE Stephens will combine his drive to give back to less developed nations with his mission to protect the ocean when he travels to Samoa as one of the government's New Colombo Plan scholars.
The University of Newcastle (UON) Bachelor of Development Studies (Honours) student was selected alongside fellow UON students Katherine Birrell, Chelsea Harris and Emily Simpson for the scholarship program, which gives undergraduate students opportunities to undertake study, internships or mentorships in the Indo-Pacific.
"The first emotion I had was relief more than anything," said Mr Stephens, 27, who also applied for the program last year.
"I feel like it's a dream come true to be able to go straight into international development work straight out of uni."
Mr Stephens will start his honours coursework next year before travelling to Samoa in July for 12 months.
He hopes to do a six month internship with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme's waste management and pollution control division, as well as a research project tied to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships.
"There's a massive issue with fishing nets going into the ocean, going straight overboard, and this has been identified based on thousands of observer data entries," he said.
"There's a number of countries who - based on the observer data - have been implicated by this data, but it's not necessarily a lack of will, it's more a lack of development of waste facility infrastructure on shore.
"What my paper will be doing will be looking to provide recommendations and ways forward to tackle the issue and provide evidence for development measures to be taken in those regions."
Surfer Mr Stephens said the ocean was his favourite place to be. He has travelled to more than 40 countries.
"I've realised there's kindness everywhere and people with much lower living conditions were willing to give you all of the kindness as a traveller and made me feel welcome everywhere," he said.
"I realised my position of privilege in society and felt I wanted to give back - and that's what continues to drive me."
He had a further "epiphany" in 2018 in Vietnam and signed up to study development studies the next day.
"I'm not really a role-focused person as much as a purpose driven person," he said.
"I've got a mission and a purpose which is to clean up the oceans and keep them healthy, so whatever role I'm doing that contributes to that mission is where I want to be."
