#Community
Article·7 min read

Nikita Shiel-Rolle: How love, care, and compassion can foster climate resilience

Nikita Shiel-Rolle

For Nikita Shiel-Rolle, science is a tool we can use to advance climate solutions and social justice. Through her work with the Cat Island community, she is helping Bahamians learn to fall in love with themselves through the lens of the ocean.

Nikita Shiel-Rolle
Apr 1, 2021

Image © Photo credit: Nikita Shiel-Rolle

Nikita Shiel-Rolle is the founder and CEO of the Cat Island Conservation Institute, a Bahamian organization seeking to reduce the barriers to accessing science. In March 2021, our incredible monthly giving community, The Tide, is supporting the Cat Island Conservation Institute’s Certified Community Marine Scientist program, led by Nikita.

Read on for Nikita’s story and become a member of The Tide today to support ocean changemakers like Nikita and projects like the Cat Island Conservation Institute.

Cat Island, The Bahamas · Photo credit: Alessandro Sarno

I have a backstory about how Eagleray Empress came into this world. I was born in Canada, June 11, 1987, as Nikita Shiel-Rolle to an Irish mother and a Bahamian father, and the ocean is a part of me.

We moved to the Bahamas when I was seven. At first, I hated it here. As a young child, the move took me away from everything that I knew, but over time I developed a deep love for our beautiful ocean nation and all of its nature. I have had the opportunity to explore The Bahamas and get to know its wild spaces, its trees and rocks, and its creatures that are so much older and wiser than us, and are an inherent part of who we are. Whether I am diving in the bowels of underground caves or exploring coral reefs, I am connected to the ocean in a way that I cannot 100 percent articulate, but it drives my very being. I have crystal clarity about what my purpose is: to spread ocean love.

Cat Island, where Nikita lives, is a resplendent, 150-square mile island located in the central Bahamas, nearly 300 miles from the coast of Florida · Photo credit: Alessandro Sarno
Spotted eagle rays can be found flying through the turquoise waters of The Bahamas · Photo: Cristina Mittermeier
The habitats created by coral reefs are home to a wealth of life. Exploring ecosystems in the deep blue of The Bahamas during her childhood set Nikita on a path to spreading ocean love · Photo credit: Cristina Mittermeier
Nikita entered marine conservation because of her love for the ocean. Now, she works on climate justice for her community on Cat Island and for all Bahamians · Photo credit: Nikita Shiel-Rolle

Each of us is born into time and place. This impacts how we see ourselves, our fellow human beings, and our relationship with nature. Our childhood and upbringing has an effect on how we show up in the world, right down to the language or iteration of language that we use to communicate.

All of this matters. For those of us working on climate solutions, we must acknowledge that we all bring different perspectives to the table based on where we were born, the opportunities we were afforded, and how we were educated.

I entered marine conservation because of my love for the ocean. However, over the years I realized that a creature-centered approach would not save the ocean. This is why I started working to connect Bahamians to the ocean, as a remembering of who we are. Every human being deserves to live a life where they flourish, but our reality as an ocean nation with hundreds of islands and thousands of cays is that every decision we make has to have a clear and grounded focus on long-term sustainable development and climate resilience in all sectors, whether the conversation is about public health, biodiversity, or our economic recovery. The impacts of climate change are real and alive. Hurricane Dorian made me realize that I couldn’t have imagined the violence and devastation that hurricanes bring. It is what really propelled me into doing climate justice work.

When talking about small island nations like The Bahamas, I always quote the words of Dr. Adell Thomas: “Half a degree of global warming matters. Each year matters. Each choice matters.” The UNESCO Caribbean Youth Network on Climate Change, of which I am part, has a sentiment, “do or we die.” We decided to “do,” and we need everyone to work with us.
Hurricane Dorian propelled Nikita into doing climate justice work. It struck in 2019, and remains the most intense hurricane to have ever affected The Bahamas, devastating the Northern Islands · Photo credit: Cristina Mittermeier

There is a serious paradox that exists for Bahamians when we talk about the ocean.

We’re surrounded by it. It gives us the food we eat, the cultural items that resonate with our hearts, like the conch. You don’t even understand why you’re so attached to it, yet you are. That’s part of your cultural identity. We’re on islands surrounded by water, but most Bahamians don’t know how to swim. There are reasons for that. There’s a lot of fear associated with the ocean. There’s a lot of ancestral trauma associated with how most Bahamians’ ancestors arrived on these islands. We have not had equitable access to quality education, so you have a population in the Bahamas and across the Caribbean that doesn’t have skills that are transferable to the emerging blue economy.

Bahamians are surrounded by the ocean. It gives them cultural items, like the conch, and is part of their cultural identity. Yet at the same time, because of the history and legacy of colonialism and racism in the former British colony, there’s a lot of fear associated with the ocean · Photo credit: Nikita Shiel-Rolle

Conservation has historically been and continues in many places to be led by a top-down, colonial approach. This applies to the world of ocean activism.

We must be honest that we lack humanity and come from a position of privilege when we ask people to prioritize a seemingly intangible future, when most Bahamians are operating in “crisis mode” and have never put their faces underwater. To paraphrase a respected fisher friend, “When all you see is darkness, you can’t imagine a light.”
Ocean conservation has historically been and continues in many places to be led by a top-down, colonial approach. The solution, says Nikita, centers on Bahamians from all walks of life being long-term, active participants in the creation of their resilient island communities · Photo credit: Cristina Mittermeier

I fundamentally believe that Bahamians from all walks of life must be long-term, active participants in the creation of our resilient island communities.

For this to happen, we need to remove the barriers to participation in science. The problem is that the people collecting the data are missing huge perspectives. This is where the paradigm shift is required.

We must ask ourselves, “How do we have these conversations within our science and conservation community in the Bahamas, which is very foreign, to make sure that there is this attentiveness to equity and that we can lovingly resolve disparity? How do we tangibly establish resilience in communities in ways where the communities are the ones leading these conservation programs?”

Having that critical lens, and the ability to observe, is very powerful for problem-solving. We need a nation full of problem-solvers. That is how we will address the climate crisis.

Nikita’s organization, the Cat Island Conservation Institute, is establishing the first community conservation laboratory in The Bahamas to help close the gap between science, society, and policy · Photo credit: Nikita Shiel-Rolle

I see research skills as a tool to advance climate solutions and social justice. This is at the heart of the work we do with the Cat Island Conservation Institute. We have to pump resources into our communities, even something as simple as one of the programs that we’re launching and establishing here, such as certifying community scientists. We are training community members to be able to work as co-researchers. This may be someone who didn’t graduate from high school, or is a farmer, fisher, or hotelier.

When our entire community becomes scientists and participates in exploration, data collection, analysis, and the communication of science, this allows all of us to invest in our collective future.

We need to slow down in our science spaces so that we can really ensure that we are having equitable conversations and are able to bring people to the table who haven’t had a voice before. We critically need their voices to make better-informed decisions.

Nikita sees her job as helping Bahamians learn to fall in love with themselves through the lens of the ocean, including teaching community members how to swim and dive · Photo credit: Nikita Shiel-Rolle

What my job is, is that I am helping Bahamians learn to fall in love with themselves through the lens of the ocean, through nature.

It is a reclamation of sorts. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to be part of the process of inspiring other Bahamians to one day swim into the ocean, or to become cave divers and explore the bowels of our islands. Ocean love looks like building and nurturing meaningful relationships and equitable partnerships with people from all over the world, knowing that research and resources are not being unethically extracted from our country, but are rather being used to help us all thrive.

A hopeful future for Bahamians and for their ocean will involve building and nurturing meaningful relationships and equitable partnerships with people from all over the world. Nikita dedicates herself to the Guardians of Planet Ocean and celebrates the life of Romon Newbold (second from the left) who passed away in March 2021 at the age of 17 · Photo credit: Nikita Shiel-Rolle

Mending, or really establishing, this connection between science and communities is going to be critical for us to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. I firmly believe that the three C's concept of “creative arts, creative communications, and cultural diplomacy” should play a key role to inspire individuals to engage in data collection initiatives that provide clear local indicators of each of the Sustainable Development Goals. Effective communication requires self-awareness. Those of us in ocean spaces, we can’t just be so focused on the science that we forget our humanity. And we need the Global North to be hand in hand with us as we move forward. I’m not talking about an approach based on shame, blame, or judgement, because that won’t get us anywhere.

Lovingly, we must become aware of when we’re in a position of dominance and use the privilege that we have to create opportunities, to help, uplift, and support each other. That requires each of us to develop the skills to listen, take a beat, and move away from our head and into our heart. This is why I spread ocean love, care, and compassion.

As Bahamians, we will remember that we are one with the ocean. That’s how we are going to make communities climate-resilient.

Ocean love, care, and compassion is at the heart of Nikita’s work and life, and is intrinsically linked to finding climate solutions · Photo credit: Nikita Shiel-Rolle
Contributors

Nikita Shiel-Rolle

Conservation biologist & climate justice advocate

Nikita Shiel-Rolle’s deep passion for the ocean, exploration, and education, coupled with her love for The Bahamas, has shaped her goals as a conservation biologist. During her undergraduate career at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science, Nikita founded Young Marine Explorers, an organization committed to conservation and youth development. Nikita is also the owner of Cat Island Mermaid, a conservation art and wellness business, and Ocean Soul Farm, a hydroponic farm start-up exploring food security solutions. A leader in driving the development of a sustainable blue economy in The Bahamas, Nikita established the Cat Island Conservation Institute with the support of a diverse group of thought leaders, in response to Hurricane Dorian which devastated the Northern Islands of The Bahamas in 2019.

Projects

Connecting coral reefs and communities across The Bahamas

As part of a Caribbean-wide Reef Rescue Network, marine scientists are bringing together educational organizations, volunteers, ecotourists, businesses, and dive shops to restore and reinforce coral populations using state-of-the-art strategies.

Project·10 min read
Strengthening storm recovery and resilience in The Bahamas

In the largest regeneration effort in the country’s history, local communities are restoring vast swaths of mangrove forests devastated by Hurricane Dorian, aiming to protect the coastline and sustain vital fisheries.

Project·9 min read
Preserving lowland peat swamp forests and mangroves in Indonesian Borneo

Village communities are saving forests and wetlands that are one of the largest natural carbon stores in the world, as well as protecting and rehabilitating critically endangered orangutans.

Project·8 min read
Revitalizing coral reef infrastructure in Indonesia

Marine biologists, students, local community members, and tourists are planting 30,000 corals to fortify reefs and restore critical coastal ecosystems.

Project·7 min read
Advancing community-based mangrove restoration in Senegal

Local people are revitalizing 80,000 hectares of mangrove forest to safeguard valuable marine coastal ecosystems.

Project·8 min read
Planting superpowered ocean trees in Mida Creek, Kenya

In honor of Giving Tuesday 2022, our Million Mangrove Challenge will fund coastal communities in Kenya to plant 1,000,000 trees in Mida Creek.

Project·3 min read
Restoring mangrove forests in Kenya

Local communities are rallying to plant one million trees to restore native forests and tackle climate change.

Project·3 min read
Stopping emissions from deforestation in Cambodia

Forest rangers are protecting over 445,000 hectares of ridge-to-reef watershed to keep carbon safely locked away.

Project·5 min read

Short films in #Community

Why We Sail

As Earth warms and weather patterns shift, humanity is experiencing the dire impacts of climate change. On low-lying islands across the Pacific sea level rise is more prevalent than ever before, as loss of land threatens the existence of entire cultures and communities. To raise awareness about these urgent issues, 13 young voyagers from the Polynesian Voyaging Society prepare to sail from Hawai‘i to California on the ancestral voyaging canoe Hikianalia. The sister canoe to the famed Hōkūleʻa, which circumnavigated the globe in 2016, Hikianalia is powered by wind and solar energy. The crew will go on to navigate a 23-day, 2,800-mile journey in the traditional way of their Polynesian ancestors — using only the currents beneath them and the stars above.

Video·05:45
Antonese

As a waitress at a local tourist resort on Cat Island, Antonese Anthon tells guests every day how to access a nearby beach that is one of the most beautiful in all The Bahamas. Yet, she has never been herself. This is not an uncommon scenario for many Bahamians — that a history of colonialism, servitude, and the transatlantic slave trade has created barriers to their most accessible resource, the ocean. However, through a process of remembering her inherent connection with the ocean, Antonese gains a vision of an alternative future — one that includes the opportunity to follow a brighter path forward, one that connects her to the global community through a shared love for the ocean. With the support of Young Marine Explorers, a Bahamian-led nonprofit working to ensure that all members of the community have the tools needed to protect the ocean, Antonese embarks on a transformational journey into her past and into the water. Donning mask, fins, and snorkel, she takes her first ever deep-sea dive and crosses a threshold toward hope.

Video·08:25
Bodies of Water

For many Bahamians, the ocean is home. From these waters comes sustenance, opportunity, and identity. But this relationship is also complex and paradoxical. With a population of over 90 percent African descent, The Bahamas endures a colonial past of trauma and enslavement that can’t be overlooked if their future is to remain hopeful, especially amidst the rising threats of climate change, resource extraction, and ecological decline. The ocean then links these worlds—the past and present, suffering and restoration, exploitation and preservation—and offers a path forward. Only by working together equitably will these opportunities of the ocean be fully realized and protected. Only by uniting as bodies of water—as advocates, educators, and environmentalists—will past legacies be amended and amazing new potentials be achieved.

Video·9:36

Long reads

Cyclones and cultural loss: Climate justice in Vanuatu

Over 3,000 kilometers northeast of Australia lies a delicate string of 83 remote islands, an archipelago that makes up the country of Vanuatu. Here, storms and sea level rise are damaging cultural sites, fracturing local customs, language, and communities, and causing mass displacement. Vanuatu is now leading the call for international climate justice and the legal recognition of UN member states’ responsibilities to address climate change, domestically and abroad.

Article·11 min read
Indigenous wisdom in response to climate change: Integrating science and Indigenous expertise in Fiji and Samoa

In the face of climate change and severe weather events, Fiji and Samoa’s Indigenous knowledge systems highlight the need for the integration of science and Indigenous expertise to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Article·11 min read
Vanishing shores: Climate change, cultural heritage, and the resilience of the Marshall Islands community

In the Marshall Islands, a concerted community effort is fighting hard to protect not only their home, but also their identity, their landmarks, their history, and their future.

Article·10 min read
Seaweed siege: Unravelling sargassum's effect on coastal livelihoods in the Dominican Republic

Fueled by a warming ocean, the aggressive proliferation of sargassum seaweed has turned an important ecological haven in the open seas into a destructive force inundating the coastline of the Dominican Republic. Now swaths of the Dominican Republic’s shores are covered by masses of rotting algae, disrupting local communities and industries that depend on a healthy ocean. But people are working to turn this crisis into an opportunity.

Article·10 min read
Tidal threats: Displacement and resiliency in Papua New Guinea

Rising sea levels and exceptionally high tides are displacing communities across Papua New Guinea, disproportionately affecting women. Tulele Peisa, a women-led relocation organization, is setting an example for climate migration efforts around the world.

Article·8 min read
The Caribbean’s coral crisis: Ocean acidification threatens coastal livelihoods

The Caribbean is a paradise in peril — more than 50% of the Caribbean’s coral reefs could be lost by 2050. Urgent action is needed from the global community to preserve these vital ecosystems and protect the region’s economy.

Article·6 min read
Sinking islands, rising costs: The Maldives’ race against climate change

The Maldives are the lowest lying islands on Earth, and they’re sinking — by 2050, 80% of the island nation could become uninhabitable. The deterioration of coral reefs poses a threat to the country’s biodiversity, economy, and existence.

Article·9 min read
A global call for ocean protection history in Antarctica / Philippe Cousteau

This October, the countries responsible for protecting the Southern Ocean will meet to vote on the creation of three marine protected areas covering almost 4 million square kilometers of ocean. Here, Philippe Cousteau calls for action — and invites you to join the chorus.

Article·9 min read
Hurricane Dorian: Recovering from the alarming realities of a warming world

When Hurricane Dorian hit in 2019, the scenic beauty of the Bahamas was left in ruins. With climate change exacerbating the impacts of tropical weather systems more and more, genuine action is what’s needed, and everyone must play their part.

Article·7 min read
Calculating the surprising value of a mangrove forest

Mangroves are home to a diverse array of species, help protect coastlines, build economic strength, and take carbon out of the air. Ocean scientist and photographer Octavio Aburto investigates what a mangrove forest is worth to the planet and humanity today.

Article·8 min read
How mangroves can defend communities in Indonesia from the next tsunami

Aceh’s coastal villages in Indonesia were devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The survivors decided to plant mangroves as a buffer against future storms, and so far so good.

Article·9 min read
Floating through heaven in a mangrove forest / Cristina Mittermeier

Below the surface of a mangrove lagoon, it’s heaven on Earth. You’ll find an abundance of marine life that depends on this salty and unique ecosystem.

Article·9 min read
Advocating for the extraordinary benefits of blue carbon

If we turn our gaze to the rich mud of coastal wetlands, we will find a hidden treasure that can help us protect our planet from the damaging effects of climate change.

Article·12 min read
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