Aliyah Griffith | Marine Scientist | Student | US | Barbados
Marine scientist Aliyah was the first African-American to receive a degree from the marine science department in North Carolina.
Her love for the ocean started early after visiting Barbados. Aliyah’s current focus is on coral conservation work in Barbados, alongside completing her PhD in Earth Marine and Environmental Sciences in North Carolina.
In 2016, Aliyah founded Mahogany Mermaids, a non-profit organisation geared to encourage young people of colour to enter the marine field. With her knowledge and love for the ocean, she hopes to inspire the next generation to come.
What are the fondest memories from your upbringing that you feel impacted your life choices and lifestyle today?
When in Mo’orea, I observed the coral alive and thriving.
Diving in such beautiful and diverse reefs with sharks, sea turtles, and huge schools of fish is an experience everyone should have. When speaking to program participants in subsequent years about how severe bleaching events were killing the same reefs in Mo’orea and around the world, destroying entire ecosystems and negatively impacting the economies of coastal communities, I knew that I had to focus on environmental studies.
I wanted to help save our coral reef communities with the coastal communities who have a vested interest in their survival. I also knew that as a descendant of a coastal family from Barbados, my perspective is unique and valuable, along with so many others who may need encouragement to become involved in the marine sciences.
Who/what currently inspires you?
I draw my inspiration from hope. I find this in the progress we make in ocean science, the new opportunities and safe places for marine scientists of all backgrounds, from successful restoration projects, and in the trailblazing women and men guiding us with their immense knowledge and support.
What would you most like to change in the world/environment today?
I’d change our perspectives on respect. I feel that most humans do not respect our planet, let alone each other. We have to find all of our differences and not what links us and brings us together. I feel that if we had respect for what houses us, we could see how beneficial it would be to not only work with the planet, but to also work with each other.
What legacy do you hope to leave?
I hope the legacy I leave is love. I want to give as much guidance and advice as I can to my community, and as much support as I can to the ocean. Not only that, but I want to inspire the next generation that there is nothing they can’t achieve or do, and that there is support around every corner when they feel like they can’t.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to follow their dreams as an ocean Storyteller?
Your story is an ocean story. It deserves to be told and heard. No one else on this Earth has experienced the world or even the ocean the same way you have.
So if you know that you have a story to tell, let it be known. Speak with confidence, conviction, and conception.
WEBSITE: https://aliyahgg.wixsite.com/website
INSTAGRAM: @cnidariannerd
