Agenda
Bios
The Honourable Robert Nesta Morgan, BA (Hons), LLB, MP, JP, Minister without Portfolio
Office of the Prime Minister
Robert Nesta Morgan is the Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Information in the Office of the Prime Minister. Minister Morgan previously served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information between
2021 and 2022, with responsibility for the Youth Portfolio.
Minister Morgan also served as a Senator and Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister between May 2019 and August 2020.
In September 2020, Minister Robert Nesta Morgan became the elected Member of Parliament for North Central Clarendon.
Between 2016 and May 2019 Minister Morgan was the Director of Communications at the Office of the Prime Minister. Minister Robert Nesta Morgan has worked in media and communications for over 13 years, the last 8 of which focused on Social Media, Strategic Communications and Public Relations.
Minister Morgan hails from the community of Woodhall, Clarendon and is a past student of Garvey Maceo High School and Clarendon College. He graduated from the University of the West Indies with a Bachelors of Arts in History in 2004. Minister Morgan also holds a Bachelors of Law Degree (LLB) from the University of London (England). He also serves as a Justice of the Peace
Sophia Frazer-Binns, Senator
Sophia Frazer-Binns is an Attorney-at-Law with over seventeen years at the Bar and has enhanced capacities in strategic planning, program management, child rights and advocacy. A graduate of Westwood High School, Sophia obtained her Bachelors of Law
Degree in 2003 from the University of the West Indies Cave Hill and a Certificate in Legal Education in 2005 from the Norman Manley Law School. She also has a Masters of Law (LL.M) in Entertainment from the University of Westminster, London. She practices Conveyancing, and Estate Planning & Administration and Entertainment Law.
She also has a Bachelor of Law and BSc. International Relations and Public Administration.
In 2013, she was appointed a Senator, a position she continues to hold. She is presently the Opposition Spokesperson on Land, Environment and Climate Change. She has worked in the community and youth developed sectors, and started the Legal Aid Clinic at the St. Matthews Anglican Church.
She is married and has two sons.
Dr. Ava Maxam, Technical Lead
Mona GeoInformatics Institute
Dr. Maxam joined the Mona GeoInformatics Institute (MGI) in November 2006 shortly before completing Ph.D. studies in Oceanography at the University of the West Indies, where she also obtained a Bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Zoology and Botany. She is currently Acting Executive Director of MGI, where she manages all divisions including Natural Hazards & Environment
Division, the Human & Social Division, the Software Development Division, MGIBlue and is the Technical Lead on the KHEAM project. As Technical Lead, she provides direct oversight and technical guidance on all KHEAM research. She has led consultancies in GIS application, coastal hydrodynamic modelling, as well as oceanographic, environmental, ecological and biophysical assessments. She has applied GIS and oceanographic analysis in projects on climate-change resilience; coastal characterization, and sea-level rise effects. She has also collaborated regionally on projects ranging from reef valuation, shoreline and land cover change studies, to designing databases, applications, and map tools for Coastal Zone Management. Her academic research has led to publications on the effect of ocean circulation on Jamaica’s coral reefs and coastlines – highlighting the importance of coral reefs in ecological nurseries, creating unique circulation systems, and trapping particles.
Caroline Mahfood, CEO
GraceKennedy Foundation
Caroline was grounded in the principles of philanthropy through her role as Executive Director of “Building Bridges, The Florida-Jamaica Connection” a one-year
initiative implemented in 2004–2005 by Ambassador Sue Cobb. She implemented twelve CSR activities including an HIV conference, a small business exchange and the establishment of a partnership with Western Union to increase remittance donations to Jamaica.
She was then recruited by GraceKennedy to be the Programme Coordinator for the GraceKennedy Jamaican Birthright Programme and subsequently in May 2008, she was appointed as the Executive Director (now Chief Executive Officer) of the GraceKennedy Foundation. In this role, she has served as a member of the Corporate Committee for the Council on Foundations, a US based Association of Foundations; Vice-Chair of the Bureau of Standards CSR Committee, a member of the PSOJ Education Committee, and the National Education Council. She is the Chair of the Jamaica Network of Corporate Foundations and co-founder of the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance. She is also a member of Vice-President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps.
Caroline has developed a robust environmental programme for the GraceKennedy Group. Under her leadership, the company has been the largest corporate collector for Jamaica’s International Coast Cleanup Day on multiple occasions. Over the past 3 years she has been instrumental in raising USD 2.5 million in international grant funding for projects focused on the restoration of mangroves located around the Kingston Harbour as well as the reduction of waste entering the harbour through the Kingston gully (waste water) system.
She has BA (Hons) in History and English Literature from the University of the West Indies.
Mona Webber, Director
Centre for Marine Sciences
Mona Webber is the Director of the Centre for Marine Sciences, Department of Life Sciences and the James Moss Solomon Sr. Chair in Environmental Management at The University of West Indies. She is a Professor of Marine Biology with over 30 years experience
and has provided distinguished service in the areas of teaching, research, publication and administration. Professor Webber has contributed significantly to the development and delivery of a number of courses at UWI both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She has supervised or co-supervised 47 graduate students to completion including 19 MSc, 24 MPhil and eight PhD projects covering a range of topics. She is currently supervising / co-supervising 9 students (4 MPhil & 5 PhD) on research projects ranging from microoplastics, mangrove and seagrass assessment for development of appropriate conservation and rehabilitation approaches as well as mangrove and seagrass carbon sequestration (blue-carbon value). Her other research interests include assessments of coastal water quality using plankton and investigating the sargassum seaweed inundation and the potential for use of the algal biomass. Prof. Webber has edited one book, published eight book chapters, over 42 peer reviewed journal articles and over 21 technical reports; representing an impressive record of research focusing on Jamaica’s marine environment.
Vernon Barrett, CEO
Newer Worlds Ltd (London, UK)
Vernon “Patrick” Barrett, CEO of Newer Worlds Ltd (London, UK), is an international specialist who advises Governments & International Organisations on socio-economic issues related to Climate Change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He holds an MBA degree from London Business School and was trained in Management Consultancy at the world’s leading firm, Accenture.
Vernon specialises in directing Change Actions – conceptualising Government policies, mobilising financial resources, developing bid proposals, creating & implementing collaborative projects – with over 20-years of experience in the Blue Economy, Green Agenda, Agri-Business, Environmental Actions, amongst others. For example, Vernon recently developed the National Agri-Business Strategic Plan for the Government of Jamaica (2020).
His other clients include: the United Nations (UNDP), Food & Agricultural Organisation (FAO), European Union (EU), World Bank, UK Government, African Caribbean & Pacific Secretariat (OACPS), Commonwealth Secretariat, London Development Agency, Government of Trinidad & Tobago.
Throughout his extensive, diverse career Vernon has worked in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Malta, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and India.
Vernon’s motivation is one of overcoming the “implementation deficit” ever present in the global development agenda and he has a passion for catalysing practical solutions. He was instrumental in securing the KHEAM Project, one of the first Caribbean Bio-Diversity Fund (EbA) initiatives, for a Jamaican-led partnership, which he is currently directing.
Through the #KHEAMproject – a Climate Change, Marine Ecosystem-based Adaptation Project focussed on Kingston Harbour – Vernon aspires to provide innovative solutions to the “Climate Change Emergency” challenges the world is living through today.
Dr. Christopher Daly, Oceanographer
Florida Gulf Coast University
Dr. Daly obtained his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from The University of the West indies in July 2005 and MSc in Coastal and Marine Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, in June 2009. He is currently an Oceanography Research Associate with MGI’s Coastal Dynamics Modelling
Laboratory since January 2017, as well as serves as the Oceanographer on the KHEAM project where he conducts modelling research investigating transport of solid waste debris within the Kingston Harbour especially the hydro-meteorological and oceanographic conditions driving these processes. Daly has worked as an engineer and has been involved in project design, management, construction, contracting and data collection. Dr. Daly’s research covers beach dynamics, sediment transport, wave breaking schematization, surf zone hydrodynamics, swash zone processes, coastal landscape evolution, remote sensing, data collection, instrumentation, and acoustic measurement. Daly is currently an Assistant Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University where he lectures and conducts research in coastal geomorphology with a focus on sediment dynamics.
Dr. Kioshi Mishiro, Assistant Oceanographer
Mona GeoInformatics Institute
Dr. Mishiro is a former Research Fellow with the Mona Geoinformatics Institute (MGI), having been assigned to MGI by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2015. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Oceanography in 2013 and MSC. degree in
Oceanography in 2010, following completion of his Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Systems in 2008. Dr Mishiro serves as the assistant Oceanographer on the KHEAM project and assists Dr Daly in the modelling of solid waste transport within the Kingston Harbour. His professional experience is in observing physical oceanic data, statistical analysis, and simulations. His research interests include studies to reveal oceanic dynamics, modelling the physical system. He is currently employed as GIS Officer at the International Seabed Authority, an intergovernmental organization tasked with regulation and control of all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
Ms Ajani Bissick, Remote Sensing Specialist
Mona GeoInformatics Institute
Ms. Bissick is a GIS Graduate Research Associate with the Mona Geoinformatics Institute since 2021. Bissick serves as the Remote Sensing Specialist for the KHEAM project. She obtained certification in Advanced Geographic Information Systems and
Remote Sensing from the Land Information Council of Jamaica (LICJ) and UWI in August 2018 and a BSc in Geology and Computer Science at UWI in September 2019. Following the completion of her bachelor’s degree, Ms. Bissick joined the Mona Geoinformatics Institute (MGI) team fulltime in February 2020 – where she functioned in the capacities of a GIS Technician and later GIS Projects Coordinator before returning to her academic studies. She is currently pursuing Ph.D. studies in Sedimentology at McGill University in Canada. Her research interests include the application and use of chemostratigraphy – particularly a mixture of elemental data and strontium isotope ratios, paleontology, Bayesian modeling, and sequence stratigraphy in the stratigraphic correlation and paleoenvironmental interpretation of sediments from the Officer Basin in Australia and potentially, the isle of Montreal.
Elizabeth Goodleigh, Environmental Education Officer
GraceKennedy Foundation
Elizabeth Goodleigh is the Environmental Education Officer at the GraceKennedy Foundation, where she coordinates the Foundation’s objectives of the KHEAM project (Kingston Harbour Ecosystem Adaptation Measures)
and the environmental activities of the Foundation, such as GK’s Recycling Programme and beach cleanup activities.
With a background in Material Science and a passion for climate action, Elizabeth has fostered a career in advocating for sustainability in all arenas.
This passion was fostered at a young age because she was fortunate enough to attend a preparatory school where recycling and composting were part of her everyday life. So, it was a culture shock for her, when she reached high school, to realize that the waste management culture of the rest of the world just did not work like that. This dissonance is something she has been trying to resolve ever since, and now, as an adult, she is crafting this resolve into a career.
Utilizing her scientific background and her specialization in the Material Sciences, she has been building experiences in the area of recycling and community mobilization. This started with her role as Project Manager of a social enterprise that upcycled plastic, paper and Styrofoam into products such as flowerpots, playgrounds and outdoor seating; and continues with her present role at the GraceKennedy Foundation.
Mr. Darren Fletcher, Fieldwork Coordinator
Mona GeoInformatics Institute
Mr. Darren Fletcher is the Technical Projects Coordinator at the Mona Geoinformatics Institute and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Physics and a Minor in Mathematics from the University of the West Indies. As Fieldwork Coordinator of the KHEAM project, Darren is responsible for coordinating and executing KHEAM field data collection with an emphasis on in-field
UAV drone data mapping and oceanographic surveying. Darren is the chief UAV drone operator at MGI, executing aerial surveys and mapping missions. He is highly proficient in various drone software programmes utilizing his skill and expertise in conducting both autonomous and manual drone flights. He brings his scientific expertise to these tasks and combines them with communications and design knowledge in order to make accessible and relevant project outputs.
Ms. Damoi Escoffery, GIS Specialist
Mona GeoInformatics Institute
Ms. Escoffery is a graduate of the University of the West Indies (BSc Geography and minor in Computer Science) and currently works with the Mona Geoinformatics Institute as a Geographic Information System (GIS) Officer since 2021. On the KHEAM project, Escoffery serves as the Spatial Analyst Specialist. She is responsible for carrying out remote-sensing and
spatial analysis of imagery of key mangrove and gully outflow sites. She also executes the identification and classification of solid waste across sites of interest. Escoffery works on a range of projects at MGI where she conducts spatial analysis on drone and satellite imagery on a variety of hazard, human, environmental and social mapping research projects.