Antiguan women scientists championing locally led conservation

Port of Spain, 27 June 2024 – “Growing up, people weren’t telling us to be marine ecologists; people weren’t telling us to go out and study the environment”, recalls Johnella Bradshaw of the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) in Antigua and Barbuda. Instead, Johnella and her peers were encouraged to pursue careers in law and medicine. But once Johnella discovered her passion for the environment, she realised the importance of conservation. “We understand why people were pushing those career paths our way, but we survive on this earth, on our island, and if we are not protecting it, who else is going to do that job?”

Johnella is one of the young women scientists in Antigua and Barbuda doing that job at EAG and leading conservation actions in two of Antigua and Barbuda’s Key Biodiversity Areas along with her childhood friend, Shanna Challenger. Friends since they met in primary school in 2000, they seemed destined to be colleagues.

Read full article here.