Last weekend I found myself in Cat island for the second time in one month... not bad if you ask me. I was asked to talk at the first annual Earth Day celebration hosted in Arthurs Town Cat Island. It was great to be part of the 3 person panel from Nassau that spoke about various environmental project and initiatives. I talked about my coral conservation project, which was great the more presentations I can give the more coverage the project gets. It was also fantastic to connect with some of the other stake holders within the community. It makes me happy about the networks that I am developing throughout The Bahamas especially with the youth. Even though I am talking about Cat Island I am writing this blog post from lovely Exuma. Cat Island one week lovely Exuma this week I must say two of the best islands in The Bahamas back to back, not bad at all. As I sit here looking out the window I contemplate where I am in my journey of so called life. I am really excited to be only one and a half classes away from finishing this second year of my MSc. I say half because I am in the middle of one class now and then once I get the final A ok I begin my thesis year... the last and final year!!!! Oh how I am so excited. Even though I have already started working on it with my EDGE project it will nice to be able to focus on it and not have to worry about classes!!!!! But this mean I have to start thinking about my doctorate and where I will go to school to do that. I want to go somewhere in the UK or EU. I think it would be nice to get my Phd done in 3 years as opposed to 4 to 5 years and also it would be a nice change and give me a chance to try and connect with the Irish side of me. This weekend I’m working with some of my friends from the states and we are going to be diving danger reef, its funny I will never forget the day I went to danger reef and saw the eagle ray ballet.. at least that’s how I remember it with at least 1o rays swimming about 50 feet bellow as I floated on the surface in awe. I know my friends want to see sharks which we will of course see but I wouldn’t mind having some eagle rays in my life tomorrow. Heres to a fun filled weekend with friends and great dives and so thats my cue to get out from in front of my computer and go and enjoy sunny Exuma!
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My life has been all about coral, which is good .... great ... although i have been spending many of my days above water reading about coral as opposed to underwater diving with coral. I understand reading is important to and you cannot just play in the water every day.... although lets be real thats all I want to do. I am in my last semester of my classes at U Edinburgh which has me really excited because that means I will be able to focus on my coral conservation project next year and not have to think about classes. Which will bring me to graduation in 2014 with my MSC... and then the path to my Doctorate will begin... yikes! The coral conservation project is coming along well. We have had 2 intense coral conservation trainings, one in Andros and the other in Cat Island. We have been focusing on our SCUBA certifications both the Andros and the Cat Island group have passed their tests and finished their confined water work, so our next trips will be focussing on Coral ID and our open water dives. I feel as though I am writing so many grants these days, we really need to find a sponsor so that we can expand our coral conservation project and YME. I will be heading back down to Cat Island this weekend to talk at the Earth Day Fair I will be speaking on my EDGE/YME project “ Empowering Youth Through Coral Conservation”. It will be nice to be down there and see the YME group again. I am working on a few new projects and as they develop I will be sure to blog about it. I have a new quotation that I live by “ I want to remember that no one is going to make my dream come true for me... it is my job to get up every day and work towards the things that are deepest in my heart...and to enjoy every step of the journey rather than wishing I was already where I wanted to end up”
My life has been all about coral, which is good .... great ... although i have been spending many of my days above water reading about coral as opposed to underwater diving with coral. I understand reading is important to and you cannot just play in the water every day.... although lets be real thats all I want to do. I am in my last semester of my classes at U Edinburgh which has me really excited because that means I will be able to focus on my coral conservation project next year and not have to think about classes. Which will bring me to graduation in 2014 with my MSC... and then the path to my Doctorate will begin... yikes! The coral conservation project is coming along well. We have had 2 intense coral conservation trainings, one in Andros and the other in Cat Island. We have been focusing on our SCUBA certifications both the Andros and the Cat Island group have passed their tests and finished their confined water work, so our next trips will be focussing on Coral ID and our open water dives. I feel as though I am writing so many grants these days, we really need to find a sponsor so that we can expand our coral conservation project and YME. I will be heading back down to Cat Island this weekend to talk at the Earth Day Fair I will be speaking on my EDGE/YME project “ Empowering Youth Through Coral Conservation”. It will be nice to be down there and see the YME group again. I am working on a few new projects and as they develop I will be sure to blog about it. I have a new quotation that I live by “ I want to remember that no one is going to make my dream come true for me... it is my job to get up every day and work towards the things that are deepest in my heart...and to enjoy every step of the journey rather than wishing I was already where I wanted to end up”
Check out my most recent blog post on the Zoological Society of London EDGE of existence website http://www.edgeofexistence.org/edgeblog/?p=6944 For as long as I can remember, I have always loved the outdoors and being in the water. It was of no great surprise to anyone when my first summer job was working as a snorkel guide. For the 15-year old Nikita, it was a dream come true, and a summer that changed my life. It was that same summer that I became a PADI open water diver and was introduced to the wonders of the underwater world. Working on the snorkel boat I began to notice that, despite the fact that my co-workers and I were all making a profit off the ocean, there seemed to be an overwhelming lack of respect – where throwing a candy wrapper off the boat was considered the norm.
I will never forget the beautiful summer day where the ocean was so calm it looked like a table but we had to change our snorkel site because the ongoing oil leak from the electrical plant left a slick of oil that covered the water. It was at that moment that I turned to my captain and said, “ give me four years and I am going to do something about that”. I returned to high school that year knowing that I was going to become a Marine Biologist and make a difference in The Bahamas. It was that summer in 2002 that ignited my uncontrollable passion for the ocean and educating Bahamian youth about its value. During my second year of University, I stayed true to my promise to my captain and founded the non-profit organization Young Marine Explorers that is committed to inspiring Bahamian youth to become agents of change through experiences in outdoor classrooms. After my undergraduate degree I struggled for some time to find a graduate programme that embraced the physical sciences just as much as the social sciences – to me conservation requires both sciences working together – but I finally found this. It was in my first class at University of Edinburgh that I was introduced to EDGE species, so when I saw the EDGE Fellowship programme and their requirements for conservation projects I got really excited. As an EDGE Fellow, I am able to introduce the world of conservation science to students of The Bahamas by fostering the development of their leadership skills, teaching them to become SCUBA Divers and engaging them through citizen science to work alongside me as we uncover the life history of the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered coral species found within The Bahamas. Although I have just started this project, I can see the enthusiasm and passion growing in the students as they develop pride for the ocean and our unique pillar coral. To learn more about Nikita’s work, please visit her community page. |
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The Science BlogIn the spirit of scholarship and adventure my writing explores a range of topics about the ocean, conservation and Small Island Developing States. This island girl, although not always writing from an island hopes to introduce you to the fun and wild side of science! Archives
September 2019
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