Dr. Smith-Thompson further expressed her delight that the local Zonta chapter chose HLSCC as part of its awareness and advocacy campaign to promote girls in climate change adaptation and response initiatives.

Funds will support Marine centre 

The funds will be used to support the Centre for Applied Marine Studies’ community outreach efforts related to its Mangrove Nursery and Coastal Resilience Laboratory. This will include the development of a short educational awareness video about coastal restoration and the launch of a new pilot programme, LEAP (Leaders in Environmental Awareness Programme).

Ms. Susan Zaluski, Head of Marine and Maritime Studies, said, “LEAP will use a STEAM (Science Technology Education Art and Math) based framework to introduce high school girls to key marine environmental topics via a series of hands-on activities.”

The immediate Past-President of the Zonta Club of Tortola, Dr. Nikki Rubaine-Connell expressed thanks to the other members who were present for their efforts to ensure that the Rose Day campaign this year was a resounding success which enabled this generous donation to HLSCC.

During a planning session for the new LEAP programme held with HLSCC Mangrove Nursery staff on 1 July, Ms. J’Kyla Rogers, an HLSCC science student interning with the HLSCC Mangrove Nursery commented, “I wish we had something like this when I was in high school. It’s important for girls to have access to these kinds of opportunities.