The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

AS a dive instructor, educator, photographer, scientist and overall community leader, Nikita Shiel-Rolle makes it her duty to always strive to inspire others through her actions.

It is her passion for the ocean, exploration and education mixed with her love for the Bahamas that has shaped her goals as a conservation biologist and allowed her to become the founder of a non-profit organisation entitled Young Marine Explorers (YME).

She is dedicated to building a greater appreciation amongst young Bahamians for the ocean and the country’s natural resources.

Nikita has worked in this field for 15 years, officially beginning her career in conservation and marine science seven years ago.

The work, she said, is challenging, but also stimulating and fun. She enjoys finding ways to empower Bahamians, protecting the environment in any way that she can, which at the end of the day for her is really about building a better Bahamas.

“As Bahamians we need to understand how our natural resources directly support our health, well-being and economy. In the past our (YME) programmes were solely focused on the environment, however, two years ago I conducted an in-depth study on some of the drivers to environmental degradation in the Bahamas and it became clear that the poor educational output from public school students leaving high school was one of the main drivers,” Nikita said.

“As a result, YME has evolved into a programme that seeks to improve the academic performance of students and develop the skills required to address the social, economic and environmental challenges that face the Bahamas. The environment is the medium that we use to educate and inspire students.”

Through YME, Nikita assisted Tatiana Clare of OX Studios in the production of a film called “WAVES”. She describes the film as being about social change and coral conservation, and this is because the film identifies the challenges that Bahamians have including issues with education, the economic divide and resource management.

She said the film goes on to discuss how YME is an example of a project that is working towards being part of the solution by addressing real and debilitating challenges through youth development.

After the first screening of “WAVES” at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, Nikita was invited to join a team that is working on developing a programme that will target students from at-risk communities, train them as critical thinkers and prepare them to matriculate into the University of the Bahamas.

“We are working towards developing a long-term partnership between Young Marine Explorers and the College of the Bahamas that will build citizens prepared to develop the Bahamas,” she said. Wasting no time putting their ideas into action, last Wednesday Nikita took WAVES to COB’s Harry C Moore Library where she presented it to a room filled with students that made up the summer semester Politics 313 class.

“We had a positive turnout. We want as many people as possible to view ‘WAVES’. What has been amazing is that everyone who sees the film has been called to action; they ask how they can help, how they can get involved. This is positive because this is what the film was intended to do – inspire people to create change one wave at a time,” said Nikita.

She believes the Bahamas will only develop and become a better country if citizens invest in it, and YME is just one example of how an idea can become a programme that impacts the lives of thousands.

“I believe that as Bahamians we have the responsibility to improve our country. We cannot expect the government to solve all our problems. I believe that Young Marine Explorers is an important initiative because it was designed specifically for Bahamian youth, to inspire them, to develop their cultural appreciation and to improve their leadership and academic performance by connecting them to the ocean,” Nikita said.

Encouraging all young women to find their personal passion – as passion in many ways to her is like a superpower – Nikita said it is the wild and crazy ideas driven by passion that have the capacity to change the world.

“It gives you the strength and the determination to make the seemingly improbably possible. I think all young women and men should try new things and gain experiences until they find their ‘super power’. Success does not happen overnight and I am a long way from realising my vision, but passion provides the endurance required to keep pushing towards achieving your goals,” she said.

Nikita’s aim going forward is to see YME expand throughout the region and maybe even one day around the world. One of her goals is to also have 4,000 students, which is 10 per cent of the public senior high school population, enrolled in YME by 2025.