The Caribbean is entering an important moment in the global conversation on deep sea mining.
As interest grows in the exploration of our ocean floors, so too does the need for strong, informed, and independent journalism that can help the public understand what is at stake for our ecosystems, economies, and coastal communities.
That’s where this fellowship comes in.
In partnership with the Jamaican Environment Trust (JET), RISE UP for the Ocean, and EcoVybz Environmental Creatives, we’re excited to officially announce the first cohort of the Caribbean Deep Sea Mining Media Fellowship, a regional programme bringing together journalists from across the Caribbean to strengthen reporting on this rapidly evolving issue.
Over the coming months, these journalists will take part in expert-led training sessions, receive editorial mentorship, and develop in-depth, public-interest stories exploring the environmental, social, economic, and governance dimensions of deep sea mining in the Caribbean.
They will also contribute to regional podcast storytelling through the Caribbean Climate Calabash, in collaboration with the EcoVybz Podcast, helping to expand the ways these stories are told and heard across the region.
🌎 Meet our Fellows
We are proud to welcome:
Carolina Pichardo, 📍Dominican Republic
Carolina is an award-winning investigative journalist and Founder and Executive Director of Raíz Climática, the first Dominican media outlet dedicated to climate reporting. Her work has appeared in the BBC, The Washington Post, Vogue, and The Japan Times.
She is an alumna of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network, Chevening Scholarships, Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), and Emerging Media Leaders program, and has spoken on climate journalism for the International Center for Journalists, Columbia University, UNESCO, and the Oxford Climate Journalism Network (OCJN). She studied a Master’s in Investigative Reporting in London and specialises in Global Environmental Studies in Tokyo.
Kelesha Williams,📍Jamaica
Kelesha is an award-winning journalist from Jamaica. She is an avid Dancehall and Soca music listener, with a passion for all things environmental! Over the past 9 years, she has been working as a news reporter and news anchor at Television Jamaica, where she has received strong local and international recognition for her work in climate change and biodiversity protection.
Her commitment to environmental issues has influenced her decision to cover COP28 in Dubai through a Climate Tracker Fellowship, and COP15 in Montreal, Canada through an Earth Journalism Fellowship. Kelesha is also a recipient of the prestigious United Nations RAF Fellowship.
Seigonie Mohammed,📍Trinidad and Tobago
Seigonie is a Climate Change Editor at Guardian Media Limited and a multimedia journalist in Trinidad and Tobago, where she covers everything from hurricanes and heatwaves to disaster resilience across the Caribbean. With more than a decade in broadcast and digital journalism, she has a passion for translating complex science into stories people actually stop to read, watch, and talk about.
Whether she is tracking tropical weather systems or reporting from communities on the frontlines of climate impacts, Seigonie believes good journalism should not just inform the public but spark conversation and accountability.
Outside the newsroom, she enjoys exploring Caribbean culture through food and unwinding with a warm cup of tea.
Candice Stewart,📍Jamaica
Candice works in communications and has carved out a space where her storytelling intersects with journalism. Her writing has been recognised for its focus on the human side of climate justice, community resilience, entrepreneurship, and their offshoots across the Caribbean.
Despite living with thalassophobia (a fear of the deep ocean and its creatures), she is drawn to its mysteries, viewing the sea as a vibrant ecosystem that mirrors life on land.
Passionate about amplifying regional voices, Candice often uses storytelling as a tool for justice, and she intends to ensure that Caribbean perspectives are heard in debates on climate change, ocean governance, and sustainability.
Jaleeza Roberts,📍Belize
A Belizean storyteller with a passion for turning real-life moments into meaningful conversations, Jaleeza works across news writing, heartfelt feature stories, and community-building, always keeping creativity at the centre of her work.
She believes that words can genuinely change lives and is intentional about using her storytelling to do just that. She is also a Harry Potter fan and, in her free time, can often be found watching One Piece.
Ryan Bachoo,📍Trinidad and Tobago
Ryan is a climate journalist in Trinidad and Tobago, with a passion for telling stories that sit at the intersection of people, policy, and power.
He has reported extensively across the Caribbean, with a strong focus on public affairs, climate change, and social development.
Beyond daily news, he is the author of Caribbean Literature: An Unending Search, exploring identity and storytelling in the region. He is also an award-winning journalist and has produced four documentaries highlighting Caribbean realities and resilience.
When he’s not chasing stories, he’s thinking about how the region is changing, and who gets left out of that change. His work is driven by curiosity, clarity, and a belief that Caribbean stories deserve global attention.
Towana Small,📍Guyana
Towana is a young Guyanese storyteller who is passionate about politics and advocacy. She enjoys exploring new opportunities that allow her to learn, grow, and strengthen her storytelling skills.
Optimistic and creative, she loves writing, reading, and watching horror and thriller films.
Keyola Greene,📍Montserrat
Keyola is a broadcast journalist on the beautiful island of Montserrat with over 10 years of media experience. She is versed in everything from politics and sports to community and human interest stories.
Keyola is passionate about using media as a tool to connect people and amplify the voice of the underrepresented through meaningful conversations that shape communities. She enjoys reading, hosting events, and going on adventures.
Maya Doyle-Fox,📍Trinidad and Tobago
Maya is a Trinidad and Tobago-based digital communications consultant with nine years of experience in marketing, social media management, and content creation. She works with regional NGOs to translate complex climate science into accessible content for general audiences.
Maya is deeply committed to making climate issues, particularly loss and damage, just transition, and climate justice relevant and understandable to the communities most affected by them. She believes that how we communicate the climate crisis is just as important as the science behind it.
Krista Campbell,📍Jamaica
Krista is a senior Jamaican journalist, desk editor, and producer with nearly 23 years of experience in television news, scriptwriting, and long-form storytelling, including documentaries. She has covered human interest and agriculture beats, with a long-standing focus on environmental reporting across issues such as mangroves, coral reefs, coastal erosion, climate change, and deep sea mining.
Her work has earned local and regional recognition, including the inaugural Press Association of Jamaica Excellence for Reporting on the Environment Award in 2011. She has also participated in several international fellowships and training programmes, including a 2021 U.S. Foreign Press Centers Climate Change Virtual Tour on disaster risk reduction and an IMF Climate Change Reporting Workshop at COP28 in 2023. From 2023 to 2025, she collaborated with regional journalists through the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico, producing features on sargassum impacts and coral reef degradation in the Caribbean.
Suemita Teeluck,📍Trinidad and Tobago
Suemita is a dedicated and versatile journalist and writer with an AA Degree in Journalism and a BA in Mass Communications from The College of Science, Technology, and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT).
With experience as a content writer, blog writer, Creative Director for the NGO ‘For Change,’ and writer for Climate Tracker Caribbean and AZP News, Suemita is passionate about using storytelling to shed light on critical social issues. Driven by a deep empathy for people and their experiences, they aim to amplify marginalised voices and raise awareness of pressing human concerns. Suemita’s commitment to in-depth, meaningful journalism fuels their mission to bring underrepresented narratives into the public eye and inspire positive change.
Stephanie Leitch,📍Trinidad and Tobago
Stephanie is a Caribbean writer, activist-scholar, and heritage enthusiast from Trinidad and Tobago. Her passion for storytelling sits at the intersections of justice, culture, and public consciousness.
With roots in media, development, and feminist advocacy, her work spans human rights, movement building, and historical connections across geographies. She is particularly interested in the political and emotional afterlives of extraction in the Caribbean and how climate and ocean stories can be told in more people-centred ways. Stephanie is also a loving cat mom of two, amateur gardener, and chronic collector of new research obsessions.
Amitabh Sharma,📍Jamaica
Amitabh, from New Delhi, India, has made Jamaica his home since 2006. He is currently the Opinion Editor at The Gleaner newspaper. He has a keen interest in sustainable development and volunteerism.
He is 2016 Association for Promotion of International Cooperation (APIC) / Foreign Press Center Japan (FPCJ) Fellow and 2026 International Monetary Fund Spring Meeting Journalism Fellow.
Amitabh loves travelling, writing, is an art lover, an avid photographer, and follows cricket (the unofficial religion of the Indian sub-continent).
Elesha George,📍Antigua and Barbuda
Elesha is an investigative journalist with 13 years of experience reporting across the Caribbean through television, radio, digital media, and print. She is the founder of Island Press Box, a research-driven news platform focused on the intersection of climate change, sustainability, governance, and Caribbean development.
A recipient of the Climate Tracker and Open Society Climate Journalism Award and an alumna of the U.S. Government’s Young Leaders of the Americas (YLAI) programme, her climate reporting has been published by the Institution of Environmental Sciences and the Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network. She holds certification in Investigative Editing from Arizona State University and is currently pursuing studies in Media Law and Environmental Management for Sustainability.
David Papannah,📍Guyana
David is an independent freelance Guyanese journalist with over a decade of experience spanning print, broadcast, and digital media.
A proud Climate Tracker alumnus, David’s work is driven by a passion for investigative storytelling, focusing sharply on climate change, natural disasters, the environment, and agriculture.
Off-duty, David swaps deadlines for dining out at new food spots, plotting his next travel adventure, or deep-diving into mini-documentaries.
Each fellow brings a unique voice, perspective, and commitment to telling stories that matter for the Caribbean.
🌎 Meet the Mentors
Alongside the fellowship trainers, fellows will receive editorial support. These mentors will guide fellows through story development, reporting, and publication, helping to strengthen the quality, accuracy, and impact of their journalism throughout the programme.
Tyrell Gittens📍Trinidad and Tobago
Tyrell Gittens is a Trinidad and Tobago–based geographer, environmentalist, and journalist with expertise in biodiversity conservation, climate communication, and environmental reporting. He is the former Project Coordinator and Editor of the Cari-Bois Environmental News Network and co-founder of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) Caribbean Chapter.
A journalist since age 19, Tyrell has published more than 700 articles across regional media and has represented Caribbean youth at multiple international biodiversity and climate conferences.
Hipolito Novelo,📍Belize
Hipolito Novelo is an award-winning Belizean journalist with more than 14 years of experience across radio, television, print, and digital media. He currently serves as Digital Editor at Greater Belize Media, leading digital storytelling and coverage of complex social and political issues.
His work has included collaborations with international outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Discovery+, and Campside Media, as well as organisations including the Media Institute of the Caribbean and Earth Journalism Network. With expertise in multimedia production, data analysis, and digital journalism, Hipolito’s reporting increasingly focuses on the intersections of climate change, economic inequality, and global governance.
✍🏽 What our fellows will be doing?
Throughout the fellowship, these journalists will:
- Strengthen their understanding of deep-sea mining science, policy, and impacts
- Work closely with experienced editors and mentors
- Develop and publish one in-depth story on deep-sea mining
- Produce or participate in a podcast episode for Caribbean Climate Calabash
- Join a growing regional network of environmental journalists
Deep-sea mining is still an emerging and highly debated issue globally. For the Caribbean, a region deeply connected to the ocean, these conversations are especially important.
This fellowship is about ensuring Caribbean journalists are not just covering these developments, but helping shape how they are understood across the region and beyond.
To our fellows, congratulations and welcome. We’re really excited to work with you, learn with you, and support your storytelling over the coming months.
Let’s get to work! 🧡🧡🧡
