Last year, environmentalist Katrina Khan-Roberts wrote a book to help educate and inspire young children to love the ocean.
The book, Mertrina Marine Minded – The Mini Marine Biologist's Guidebook, covers facts about marine biology, explained by the character Mertrina which was Khan-Roberts' nickname as a child.
“I was just thinking about my six- or seven-year-old self who loves mermaids and marine biology.
“There wasn’t really anywhere I could have looked for information and now I wanted to create that for another little person.
“I said let me sit down and actually put pen to paper. I wanted to use my capacity in marine biology to write the book that I always wanted to see on the shelf,” said Khan-Roberts.
Growing up, Khan-Roberts, 31, regularly visited Tobago with her family which sparked her interest in learning about oceans.
“Apparently, before I was born, my dad took my mom on the Panorama which was the boat (to Tobago) back then.
“So, my mom was pregnant with me, and I was on a boat going to Tobago.
[caption id="attachment_898935" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Katrina Khan-Roberts holds a copy of her book Mertrina Marine Minded – The Mini Marine Biologist's Guidebook - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
“Though I was in the womb, I think that stuck with me for my whole life. I have to go Tobago at least once for the year.”
Khan-Roberts remembers swimming in Mt Irvine Bay, at age six, and seeing an octopus which piqued her curiosity.
From that moment, she was left in awe of marine life – and mermaids. Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid intrigued her with its story centred around fantasy and the natural world.
“The first time the MV Logos Hope boat came to Trinidad, I went to the Logos and the first book I picked up was the original Little Mermaid book.
“I just loved swimming, the sea and I though that mermaids were the perfect mixture.
“I used to swim a lot. My cousin saw me swimming once and said I was swimming like a mermaid…you’re Mertrina and so that’s how I got the nickname.”
Her early interest in what lives in the seas deepened as she grew up and she increasingly saw how the marine environment was declining.
“As I got older, I saw the reefs (in Tobago) were dying and every time I went back, I saw less and less fishes.
[caption id="attachment_898933" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Marine biologist Katrina Khan-Roberts on a pirogue at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary. The author of Mertrina Marine Minded – The Mini Marine Biologist's Guidebook hopes the book will inspire children to learn about the ocean and how to protect it. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
“I love Macqueripe as well… that’s my favourite beach in Trinidad. But I saw the presence of more algae in Macqueripe.
“I felt so broken because I though to myself, how is that we had such a beautiful, vibrant coastline and then all of a sudden, within my lifetime, I’ve seen it degraded.”
So, from 2008 to 2011, Khan-Roberts did an undergraduate degree in environmental resource management, with a mino
