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“When I was a little boy, my mom would sometimes buy cascadu at the Chaguanas market and bring them home. These fish would still be alive and I would beg for one which I would put into water and try to revive. I did the same for the blue crabs that she sometimes bought. I then started rearing ornamental fish and began a small business at home. I became seriously interested in aquaculture during my first degree at UWI and went to see Professor Kenny of the Department of Zoology. He was very encouraging and eventually I registered for a PhD under his supervision and worked on developing the technology for the culture of the cascadu as my doctoral research.”

Professor Indar Ramnarine

PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF LIFE SCIENCES
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE
ST. AUGUSTINE CAMPUS, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Tel: (868) 662-2002 ext 3955 or 3093 • Email: Indar.Ramnarine@sta.uwi.edu

PROFILE

Professor Indar Ramnarine is a graduate of Presentation College, Chaguanas, Trinidad. He read for a first degree in Agriculture at UWI, St Augustine and graduated in 1980 with Upper Second Class Honours. He topped the class in the first and final years and was awarded the final year prize for the best student. In 1985 he completed an MSc degree in Fisheries Biology & Management at the University of Wales, Bangor, where he also graduated at the top of his class. He returned to UWI in 1985 and joined the Department of Zoology as a Teaching Assistant and began a PhD under the supervision of Professor J.S. Kenny. In 1987 he was appointed Assistant Lecturer, and promoted to Lecturer in 1989. He completed his PhD in 1992 on The Biology, Nutritional Requirements and Culture of the Cascadu and was able to get eight publications in refereed journals from this study. He completed an MBA (Heriot-Watt University/Edinburgh Business School) in 2001, specialising in Human Resource Management. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2002 and then to Professor in May 2008. Professor Ramnarine is considered to be an expert in aquaculture and fisheries management and has done voluntary work in aquaculture in Jamaica, Guyana, Suriname, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand and Cambodia.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Professor Ramnarine’s primary research interest is in aquaculture; working on species such as cascadu, tilapia, prawns, shrimp, crabs, oysters and river conch. His interest is in developing or improving hatchery and production technology for these species as well as other indigenous species with culture potential. He enjoys working with farmers to transfer this technology. He also has a deep interest in fish biology and the development of sustainable fishing methods in Caribbean Fisheries. Within the last five years he has developed an interest in behavioural and evolutionary studies using the guppy as a model, and in biological diversity especially with fish and crustaceans.