BNT introduces Mrs. Vanessa Haley-Benjamin who will become our new Director of Science and Policy assuming overall responsibility of the Science and Policy Division. Vanessa replaces Tamica Rahming who has resigned effective January 15th, 2013 to pursue other interest.
Vanessa Haley-Benjamin, although recently appointed to the Director of Science and Policy position at The Bahamas National Trust, has been involved in many projects directly and indirectly connected to the organization.
In 2006, she received funding from the Kerzner Marine Foundation to pursue her Master’s in Biological Science from Florida International University. Her Master thesis was entitled, “Acoustic Telemetry Studies of Bonefish (Albula vulpes) Movement Around Andros, Bahamas: Implications for Species Management”. Her research identified important bonefish habitats (e.g. migration corridors and pre-spawning aggregations) on Andros that warrant protection from coastal degradation of fishing pressures.
Her work on Andros Island extended even further with assisting in the development of an evaluation and monitoring program for the newly expanded National Marine Park on the West Side of Andros. The program will be used to determine the effectiveness of the park by assessing ecological and socioeconomic changes over time and also assessing the management structure of the park.
In 2008, Vanessa assisted the Trust with the preparation of a proposal for the creation of marine park on the South West portion of New Providence, Bahamas.
She has established extensive relationships with scientists, both local and international and comes to us with a wide range of experience such as participating in coral reef restoration projects for Disney World, grant writing, management plan writing, scientific monitoring and evaluation of marine parks in The Bahamas and Belize along with graduate training in geographical informational systems (GIS).
Vanessa brings extensive experience and creativity to this role and we are excited to have her as part of the BNT “family”. Please join me in welcoming her.
