About This Project

A team of scientists and indigenous sailors are embarking on a voyage from Majuro atoll to the atoll of Aur to document and preserve crucial indigenous knowledge in the Marshall Islands. Deploying cutting-edge technologies, this project aims to understand how Marshallese sailors navigate the vast Pacific Ocean, advancing both scientific knowledge and cultural preservation. Studying Marshallese cognition will further our understanding of human potential in extreme environments.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The indigenous navigators of the Marshall Islands – the Ri-Meto – are famed for having an extraordinary ability: wave piloting. They learn to detect subtle changes in ocean swells, enabling them to ‘sense’ islands 50km beyond the horizon and find their way. Wave piloting represents an incredible achievement of human intelligence, yet it remains largely unexplored by science. Neuroscience has long studied land-based navigation, but the ocean presents an entirely different and more complex challenge. How do indigenous sailors orient themselves in an ever-changing environment? What can their knowledge teach us about the human brain, resilience, and the potential of human abilities? We aim to answer these questions by bringing together world-leading scientists and indigenous Marshallese sailors in a groundbreaking voyage of discovery.

What is the significance of this project?

The devastating nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands displaced entire communities, eroding cultural traditions and indigenous knowledge vital for a sustainable future. Thus, this expedition has deep scientific, cultural, and societal significance. Research co-creation and community engagement are at the heart of the project, ensuring that our work benefits the Marshallese people. Today, climate change threatens the very existence of these low-lying atolls. Supporting this project means investing in resilience and empowering Marshallese youth through the preservation of ancestral skills that hold critical environmental use for their future.

We have secured funding for research travel and equipment, and we are now fundraising for a community event at Aur, the final destination of the voyage. The event includes the sharing of food (following traditional customs), as well as a series of games and citizen science activities.

What are the goals of the project?

Navigation is a fundamental cognitive capacity, but our current conception of it is narrowly based on Global North participants in laboratory experiments. Marshallese navigation offers radically different ways of understanding how humans find their way through the world. And by documenting indigenous traditions, we help safeguard a valuable part of human heritage—ensuring these skills are not lost and can continue to inform and inspire future generations.

During the voyage, we will be periodically collecting directional pointing data and distance and time estimates. This will include eye tracking data, both qualitative and quantitative data, video recordings, and environmental measures, such as accelerometer data. We will also be piloting the use of mobile EGG at sea. Thorough documentation of Marshallese navigation can help us build cognitive models of how wayfinding unfolds in the ocean, and it also serves as a repository for cultural transmission.