 From growing up in rural Tortuga in Trinidad to sampling subsurface waters on the Swedish icebreaker Oden in the Arctic Basin, Dr La Daana Kanhai has left her mark on the world of marine science.
“My mother gave me a very important piece of advice,” Kanhai said, “she said to me, ‘don’t do something because you think you’ll make a lot of money or because you think you’ll be famous. Do something that you really love, that you’re passionate about. I think that's the point when I decided I wanted to be an environmental scientist.”
Kanhai’s passion for the environment began in her childhood. “I’m a country girl,” Kanhai said, “I grew up in this village called Tortuga, it is in the middle of the country but we are located on the Central Range and so even though we were in the countryside we had a lovely view of the Gulf of Paria.”
At home, Kanhai would often spend time in the garden and marvel at nature, igniting her passion for the natural world. She said, “Anything you could think about used to come into the garden. Being outdoors was just an adventure for my sister and me.”
Her love for the natural world drove her to pick subjects like biology, chemistry and geography in her secondary school, Naparima Girl’s High School. At the end of secondary school, she decided to follow her passions and pursued a double major in chemistry and environmental and natural resource management at The UWI.
Kanhai said, “even though you're pursuing something that you are passionate about, it's a hard journey because they're going to be times that are tough and there are going to be setbacks.”
She then completed her MPhil in environmental biology. Kanhai praised some of her supervisors Dr Judith Gobin and Dr Denise Beckles for being strong female role models inspiring her to do more and go further.
“Dr Kanhai is a very keen researcher and a highly motivated young woman who has already begun to make scientific strides for Trinidad and Tobago,” says Dr Gobin, who is also Head of the Department of Life Sciences. “I have no doubt that she will continue to be successful in her research and will herself be an inspiration to many of our young UWI and TT researchers.”
During this time she gained great experience in publishing her work and presenting at conferences. “UWI does offer you that solid foundation as a research student to have these opportunities. So that is what prepared me very well for when I went on to do my PhD,” Kanhai said.
Kanhai’s first expedition was the Floating Summer School, North-South Atlantic Transect Training on a German ice breaker for five weeks in 2015.
The vessel travelled from Germany to South Africa. The expedition selected 32 students from all over the world from hundreds of applications. On the voyage, the students were taught about biological oceanography and how to use the tools and systems on the ship for their research. Specifically, Kanhai was sent by her supervisors to conduct a portion of her research collecting samples of subsurface water to study.
Kanhai applied her experience in a second expedition on the Oden to the Arctic Basin.
She applied to the six-week expedition after finding out that there was a lack of research with regards to plastic in polar regions. This expedition came with new challenges such as having to take samples through the ice.
On August 21, 2016, Kanhai and the rest of the expedition team reached the North Pole aboard the Oden.
She completed her PhD in 2018 in marine ecosystem health and conservation. Her dissertation was titled, “Microplastic abundance, distribution and composition in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.”
Microplastics are plastics that are less than 5mm in diameter. Kanhai said, “every environmental compartment that we've sampled in, be it surface waters, subsurface waters, sediments, sea ice, we've found these particles.” She added that already, experiments have shown that microplastics are a threat to marine life.
Kanhai said that stopping plastic pollution has to be done using a multi-pronged approach involving the government, businesses and everyday citizens. She acknowledged that locally, businesses like Massy Stores and PriceSmart have adopted policies that reduce the number of single use plastics generated by their operations.
Kanhai called on young people to make a difference and be knowledgeable about what is going on in the world around them, “Trinidad and Tobago needs change-makers, people that are not self-absorbed. We are facing so many issues in Trinidad and Tobago. How are you going to make a difference if you don't know what the issues are?”
Kanhai, an instructor in the Department of Life Sciences in the Faculty of Science and Technology, stressed how important it is for researchers and professionals to realise that they are in a position to influence young people. Kanhai thinks that young girls should be informed and knowledgeable about the work that women are doing in STEM fields and in turn be inspired to do their own work.
When asked what she was going to do next, Kanhai said, “For me, it is always about dealing with issues that I'm passionate about. I came back to Trinidad and I knew that I came back here for a purpose and to utilise the skills that I have learnt along the way to address local issues. It's not only about fulfilling my dream but enabling the dreams of others as well. That’s why teaching is important.”
To share her work and experiences, Kanhai launched her website www.ladaanakanhai.com and also posts on Twitter and Instagram under the handle @ladaanakanhail.
Marc Kanneh is a final year strategic communications student from the Florida Institute of Technology interning at the Marketing and Communications Office at UWI St Augustine. His interests include running and cooking.
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