Bradley Wong of Kailua and Nahaku Kalei of Hilo have been selected from 67 applicants for training as marine conservation leaders.

They will spend the next two years in the Marine Conservation Fellowship Program, a joint project of the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Sciences Service.

Kim Hum, conservancy director of marine conservation, said the youths will gain skills to be highly competitive in the conservation job market.

Kalei graduated from Waiakea High School in Hilo and earned a bachelor's degree in biological engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

She conducted research on a scientific vessel in the Caribbean, returned here in 2008 and was selected last year as a crew member for the Hokule'a voyage to Palmyra.

Both she and Wong are interested in community-based conservation.

Wong is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and California State University at Long Beach and serves as community coordinator for a wetlands restoration project at Heeia in Windward Oahu.