Sarah Mahadeo

Research Fellow, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute

Sarah Mahadeo a Research Fellow in the Closing the Circle Programme which looks at exploring challenges and advancing potential solutions to marine debris, Sargassum and marine spatial planning (MSP) in the Eastern Caribbean. Sarah has more than 7 years’ experience working both in terrestrial and marine planning. Prior to joining WMU, she worked with the MSP global initiative of the IOC-UNESCO for capacity development activities on MSP and the Blue Economy in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as on a series of policy briefs related to MSP on a range of topics including Climate Change, Ocean Governance and Capacity Development. Her work in MSP also includes an internship at Nordregio in Stockholm Sweden in 2018, where she was involved in the Pan Baltic Scope project. Sarah was previously employed as a Town Planner in the Ministry of Planning and Development in Trinidad and Tobago from 2011 until 2020 (with a hiatus for study from 2016-2018). Her work in land use planning involved assessment of applications for building and the development of land and contributing to policy reviews and other planning guidance. She was also a member of the working committee which produced the national standards for accessible buildings and facilities. Sarah’s educational background includes the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Maritime Spatial Planning, jointly conferred by the University of Seville, Spain; University of Azores, Portugal and University IUAV of Venice, Italy. She also holds a BSc in Urban and Regional Planning from Heriot-Watt University, Scotland and a BSc in Biology from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Her research interests include stakeholder engagement in planning, land-sea interactions, marine and terrestrial planning integration and developing MSP in small island states.