Diva Amon, Ph.D.

Research

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Exploring Trinidad and Tobago’s deep-sea habitats to enable their management and protection

Less than 1% of Trinidad and Tobago’s extensive deep-ocean habitats have been explored, mainly because of limitations in research capacity and resources. Yet exploitation of these fragile ecosystems is likely to increase in coming years as the country’s oil and gas extraction efforts expand into deeper waters.

Diva Amon will study Trinidad and Tobago’s mesophotic and deep-sea species and habitats using remotely operated vehicles and new low-cost deep-sea technology. Her objective is to begin to establish an evidence base that can inform management of deep-ocean biodiversity in the country and enable the impacts of exploitation or protection measures to be tracked over time. She will identify and map priority areas for conservation and communicate her findings to decision-makers and key stakeholders. Amon will also mentor and train local early-career scientists to conduct deep-sea research, enhancing marine science capacity in the country.

To learn more about Amon, read her bio.

See the full list of 2022 Pew marine fellows.