Today we’d like to introduce you to Paulita Bennett-Martin. She shares her story with us below:
Born to a Belizean mom and an Irish American adventure diver who settled down in Belize City, Paulita has a born passion for the ocean. Since 2012, she has worked in research, advocacy, and alliance building to protect marine resources and waterfront culture throughout coastal Georgia and the Caribbean.
I always like to say my ocean conservation voyage started when I was swimming off the coast of Miami and an endangered North Atlantic right whale swam up to me! I realized what a truly rare moment this was and I felt like this was a special message for me. Less than two months later I returned to college to study the oceans.
Previous to that moment I had worked in arts nonprofits and boutiques, so this was quite a departure. But truly, my passion for ocean conservation came from my parents who were brought together by the ocean. Having a mother from the most beautiful place in the world and a father who moved there to dive, meant I saw a lot of beautiful blue sea very early in life. I spent most of my life, whether in Belize or South Florida, on the beach or on a dock. The coral, fish and dolphins and everything else filled me with a constant sense of wonder and peace. Nothing has ever been so powerful as a day on the sea.
I got my education at Georgia State University and then Emory University. And since school, I have done all sorts of things for the ocean, at least my bio says so!
“Paulita was a research intern for Oceana in Belize during graduate school. Then she returned to be a Campaign organizer and then the Field Representative for Oceana in Georgia. In 2021, she took on the new role of Federal Policy Manager for Oceana’s US Plastics work. Paulita graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia State University’s Department of Geosciences, then went on to complete graduate studies at Emory University, earning a Master’s in Development Practice with a focus on Sustainable Environments and Livelihoods with the highest honors.
Before joining Oceana, Paulita managed fisheries research in the Virgin Islands, plastics research in Belize, and oversaw coastal advocacy campaigns in Coastal Georgia. Paulita has also managed a special project for a US Senator and serves on a National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and is the co-founder of Whale Week and also Sea of Life, two community-based ocean conservation initiatives”.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No way has this been smooth. The ocean conservation world is competitive, and it can also be very elite. After all, it is tough work.
As a Latina, I have often felt like an imposter in the oceans community in the US South. My culture was an advantage when working in the Caribbean though. However, even though there have been awkward and trying times, I have found my proverbial pod. I believe I am the first Latina to serve on the US campaigns team for Oceana. Not certain but pretty sure. But before working with Oceana I experienced hesitancy towards my perspectives. I felt that some people and organizations disregarded my skills and did not want to incorporate my perspectives because they were different.
Even with the awkward periods, I have a lot of great allies and friends in the field who far outweigh any small-mindedness that I ever experienced.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Federal Policy Manager for Oceana That means I lobby for ocean conservation policies to US Congress and the Executive Branch on issues within my portfolio of ocean plastic pollution. Right now, single-use plastic pollution is inundating our precious bountiful oceans. 33 billion pounds a year wind up in the ocean – that’s like sitting on the beach and two dump trucks pulling up each minute and unloading plastic trash in the water.
NO! Plastics wind up in our oceans, rivers, forests, and neighborhood streets – this pollution knows no end. I spend my days talking with decision-makers about this issue and advocating for policies that will reduce the amount of single-use plastics being made. I am basically asking them to protect our oceans and our lives from an overabundance of products that are used for mere moments but go on to pollute our planet’s lifetimes. I want us, humans, to leave behind a better legacy for each generation.
Outside of my amazing 9-5 job at Oceana, I also co-lead Whale Week and Sea of Life projects.
Whale Week is an annual grassroots community week where local organizations host events to raise awareness for endangered North Atlantic right whales in Georgia. These whales are Georgia’s office State Marine Mammal since 1985 because they come to our coast every winter to have their babies. It’s important to me that Georgians recognize how important we are to the future of these whales.
Sea of Life is a Caribbean initiative that works to support local people with ideas for ocean conservation This means we host network-building events, we help bring capacity to locally led conservation and restoration projects, and we provide peer-to-peer educational opportunities.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
So many people along the way deserve credit. The Department of Geosciences at Georgia State University, the entire family at Emory University’s MDP Program, and the amazing women I have worked with like Dr. Tracy Yandle and Lara Levison. Tracy Yandle recruited me to manage her research team in the Virgin Islands. She saw my potential and entrusted to deploy me to build out a huge research project on the ground in a completely new foreign place. Lara Levison brought an outsider (outside of DC) on to join her incredibly high caliber Federal Policy team in the US Capital of Washington DC.
There are also many women who have been great role models for me outside of work. My mom for always saying I can do it, my godmother, for always showing me how to do it with class. And my dear friend Joann Jones who left our world recently, she always encouraged my self-love and relationship with gardening.
And there are three great men in my life. My husband supports me in every way possible and gives me the greatest honesty and perspective I could have. My father for establishing and encouraging my love of the ocean. And my dear colleague and friend “docta-captain” who agrees to all my precarious adventures.
I also find that the ocean, the waves, the fish, and the mammals, all mentor me in my work. They are my constant reminder of what I do.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wethreetothesea/
- Other: Oceana.org
Image Credits
Ras Kiva, Adios Babylon.
