Waves and Wayfinding
A Co-Produced Research Voyage Exploring Indigenous Navigation in the Marshall Islands
A team of scientists and indigenous sailors are embarking on a voyage from Majuro atoll to the atoll of Aur in August 2025 to document and preserve crucial indigenous knowledge in the Marshall Islands. Deploying cutting-edge technologies including mobile eye-tracking and 360° motion capture, this project aims to understand how Marshallese sailors navigate the vast Pacific Ocean, advancing both scientific knowledge and cultural preservation.
Background
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.
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.
To ensure the long-term impact of our work, scientists from University College London, Harvard and Hawaii University are partnering with Waan Aelon in Majel (WAM), a Marshallese canoe-building school led by Alson Kelen, an apprentice of the last known Ri-Meto master navigator. WAM plays a crucial role in passing down traditional skills, fostering local leadership, and equipping Marshallese youth with the tools they need for a sustainable future. The project is also being undertaken with the support of the Royal Institute of Navigation.
Team
Alson Kelen
Director of Waan Aelon in Majel (WAM), Indigenous expert in Navigation
Prof Hugo Spiers
Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London
Prof. John Huth
Donner Professor of Science Harvard University Physics Department
Prof. Joseph Genz
Anthropologist at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo
Prof. Gad Marshall
Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Prof. Shahar Arzy
Professor of Neurology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Maria Ahmad
Neuroscience PhD student, University College London
Binton Daniel
Indigenous Master Canoe builder WAM
Dr. Pablo Fernandez Velasco
British Academy postdoctoral fellow, University of Stirling
Clansey Takia
Indigenous Sailing and Canoe building instructor WAM
Jerolynn Neikeke Myazoe
Graduate Student, University of Hawai'i at Hilo
Chewy C. Lin
Documentary film-maker
Aims
The Power of Indigenous Navigation
Preserving Traditional Knowledge
Rethinking Our Dependence on GPS
Marshallese navigation offers radically different ways of understanding how humans find their way through the world. These systems reveal incredible cognitive abilities and challenge our assumptions about human potential in extreme environments.
By documenting and preserving indigenous navigational 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.
Modern society has grown dangerously reliant on GPS and digital tools. This overdependence has weakened our natural sense of direction and disconnected us from the landscapes we inhabit.
Reconnecting with Nature
Learning traditional navigation techniques fosters a deeper relationship with our environment. By understanding where we are, we begin to rebuild our connection to the natural world around us.
Supporting Brain Health
Navigational ability is one of the first cognitive skills affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Encouraging active, non-GPS navigation may help keep our minds sharp and reduce the burden of cognitive decline.
Passing Knowledge Forward
Crucially, the voyage will help local indigenous experts, ensuring that their knowledge is valued, preserved, and passed onto future generations.
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