Education Program
Educational programs have been the heart of Ebiil’s programming structure since its inception. They advance youth development, community resilience, and environmental stewardship through culturally grounded, evidence-informed learning initiatives. Spanning formal and informal education settings, our programs build critical skills in leadership, research literacy, healthy decision-making, and environmental awareness.
By integrating Indigenous knowledge systems with experiential and place-based education, Ebiil strengthens learners’ connection to land and ocean while fostering responsibility to community wellbeing and future generations.
Decolonizing Environmental Social Science Research
In partnership with Stanford University, Ebiil Society Inc. embarked on new teaching horizons when it launched its first cohort of the Decolonizing Environmental Social Science Research class in 2021. This program is an elective year-long weekend course offered to Palauan high school students (9th-12th grade) for no credit or payment, at no cost to students. Students learn decolonized methods of social science research and apply them in variety of research pursuits related to the ocean, environment, conservation, community, and culture. More importantly, the program teaches and encourages Palauan youth to become researchers of their own traditional and indigenous knowledge and to inform relevant local solutions issues impacting Palauans, their land, and communities. Program activities are led by Ann K. Singeo and Dr. Caroline Ferguson Irlanda.
Camp Ebiil
Camp Ebiil was created in 2005 in response to the environmental challenges faced by Palau’s natural resources under threat from over-harvesting and other unsustainable practices. While governments and environmental protection agencies rush to develop policies and plans to protect natural resources, the smaller communities struggle to accept this new concept while surviving on the very resources faced by these emerging environmental challenges. In planning and developing of the camp’s learning objectives, it became clear that many, if not all, of the indigenous knowledge and practices integrated processes that embraced environmental protection and conservation values and principles. Thus, Camp Ebiil has evolved in this very ideology of teaching environmental protection through cultural practices that respect “mother nature,” promoting peaceful actions – a way of life. It is Ebiil Society’s belief that knowledge and appreciation of one’s roots increases a sense of ethnic pride that will promote the protection of one’s identity and heritage.
Outdoor Classroom
Ebiil’s Outdoor Classroom is an experiential, place-based learning program that brings students out of the traditional classroom and into Palau’s natural environments to deepen understanding of ecology, stewardship, and responsibility to land and ocean. Through guided, hands-on activities, Ebiil engages students in age-appropriate field learning that connects science education with cultural values and real-world conservation efforts.
Students in fourth grade focus on marine science, exploring coastal and reef ecosystems while learning about biodiversity, food sources, and human impacts on ocean. Students in fifth grade participate in forest restoration activities at Ngardmau’s former bauxite mine fields, where they plant native trees and learn about soil recovery, watershed protection, and the long-term importance of reforestation. Across all activities, the Outdoor Classroom emphasizes respect for knowledge, collaborative community work, and responsibility to future generations, helping students understand their role as caretakers of Palau’s land and waters while building curiosity, confidence, and environmental awareness.
Too Good for Drugs & Alcohol
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that a majourity of adults who have a substance abuse disorder started using substances during their teen or adult years. Amongst Palau’s youth, 30% are users of alcohol; 40% use marijuana; 26% were introduced to alcohol at an early age; and 26% used marijuana before turning thirteen. In a national youth suvery that informed Palau’s National Youth Policy (2023-2027), 98% of youth reported that drugs and alcohol are the top issues that youth in Palau face today.
In 2019, Ebiil Society launched its Too Good for Drugs & Alcohol program for students in grades 6-8. This evidence-based curriculum is a universal K–12 prevention initiative focused on strengthening youth well-being and resilience. The program works to reduce risk factors and reinforce protective factors related to the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs by equipping students with practical life skills. Through age-appropriate lessons, participants learn how to make healthy decisions, build positive relationships, strengthen self-confidence, communicate effectively, and navigate peer influence in ways that honor themselves and their communities.