People

Anjani’s avid interest in the ocean and coral reefs began in her home nation of the Caribbean twin-island of Trinidad and Tobago. Anjani completed her Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology at Florida Institute of Technology, graduating in 2009. She went on to the Universiteit van Amsterdam, obtaining a Master’s degree in Limnology and Oceanography in 2013. For the Master’s programme, Anjani was involved in research projects in Curaçao at the Carmabi Research Station, and then at the Heron Island Research Station in the Great Barrier Reef, associated the University of Queensland (UQ).

Anjani joined the XL Catlin Seaview Survey in 2012, and spent two years on survey expeditions to numerous sites throughout the Great Barrier Reef, Coral Sea, and the Caribbean collecting imagery for the Global Reef Record. Using the data collected from these expeditions, she is currently working towards her PhD in Biological Sciences from UQ’s Coral Reef Ecosystems lab, under the supervision of Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Professor Sophie Dove and Professor Peter Mumby (Marine Spatial Ecology Lab).

Anjani’s research focuses on determining broad-scaled spatial patterns in coral reef structural complexity and understanding the natural drivers of these variations. She is using the hi-resolution imagery collected on the Meso-American expedition, alongside automated image recognition programmes, to assist in identifying the types of coral communities present and then linking these patterns to reef structural complexity. The reefs around the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as throughout the Caribbean, are critically endangered and she is hoping to be able to use her learning, and to apply scientific research to help in implementing environmental management policies.