Staff Spotlight!

She believes the first step in conservation is breaking the myth that humans are separate from nature; humans play a key role in every ecosystem. She aspires to reconnect people with nature by saving the world, one ocean at a time, with one conversation at a time. Lashanti Jupp is a Marine Conservationist and Science Communicator who believes in reconnecting people with their environment. Growing up in The Bahamas was key for sparking Lashanti’s interest in the marine environment. She earned a BSc. in Marine Biology from Barry University in North Miami, Florida and an MPhil. in Conservation Leadership from University of Cambridge in Cambridge, UK. Over the last 8 years, Lashanti has been involved in educating young Bahamians and local communities about marine conservation through creative outreach and community meetings. Lately she has been interested in strengthening organizational partnerships through creating true, long-term collaborations.

Lashanti has been working in marine conservation and outreach since 2012, and many of her roles included creating and facilitating activities for children and adults to connect with nature by interacting with animals such as, dolphins, sea urchins, sea stars and even sea lions. She has always been passionate about creating connections with people and their environment. She later began working in marine protected area designation, consultation and management. After traveling throughout most of The Bahamas, she began to understand how important communities are in conserving nature and how there is a need for inspiring conservation action. She also became aware of the disconnect between conservation organizations, the government and local communities. This role allowed her to meet various stakeholders in The Bahamas and gave her the opportunity to inform people about unique marine and terrestrial spaces across the country worth protecting. She is interested in empowering local communities through science communication and strengthening organizational partnerships through true, long-term collaborations.

With her passion alongside her past experiences, Lashanti fits perfectly with her new role at the Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS) in the Community Conservation Education and Action (CCEA) program. The CCEA program seeks to provide the tools, training, and experience to help foster a greater conservation ethic across The Bahamas, while also building the next generation of Bahamian conservation leaders. She is excited to work with PIMS to begin building capacity for marine conservation in Bahamians, promoting conservation education and action in local communities and assisting in providing opportunities for collaboration across the conservation sector, as well as increase awareness of the issues impacting coral reefs through the Reverse The Decline (RTD) initiative.