Alexandra Ward

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Alex is a keen underwater naturalist and has excellent knowledge of all the marine life found in the waters around Carriacou. Alex is often described as a born teacher, and loves helping new divers discover a love for the underwater world.

What is your favorite travel memory?

This was in Wiltshire in England when I was 17. I was sitting on a bench outside Salisbury Cathedral, reading my book. It was late spring time, sunny, and the air felt all fresh. It was just so peaceful. I remember looking up at the cathedral spire with the wind making the trees move all around. Really beautiful.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I find teaching and helping people appreciate the beautiful world underwater a very rewarding experience. I especially love doing reef surveys, macro invertebrate surveys and Fish ID, because we so often find creatures that we've never seen before. I love that my job allows me to go diving every day, because there is no such thing as a boring day underwater!

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

I don't have any particular one story that I recall. Many of my students come back to do more Fish ID and creature ID, and it's lovely to stay in touch with people to hear where they went on from here, and how their experience here in Carriacou inspired them to go on and become actively involved in conservation projects at home and abroad.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

The Macro Invertebrates Biodiversity project is my personal favourite, because, as an experienced diver, studying the miniscule creatures on our reefs has opened up a whole new world for me. I love looking for nudibranchs, with their beautiful colours, variety and fascinating behaviour, They can be quite tricky to spot, so that each find feels like an achievement.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

What makes Caribbean Reef Buddy unique is our personal engagement and love for what we do. Each volunteer who comes to help on our projects is important to us. It's great to meet like-minded people, and many of our volunteers become good friends and return to us time after time. It’s wonderful to see our volunteers being inspired by our work.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Attention to detail, good planning, as well as attention to people's needs and abilities is essential to the success of Caribbean Reef Buddy’s programs. In this way we can ensure that everybody who comes to support our projects has a great time, is able to helps us with our conservation work in a meaningful way, and has the opportunity to develop new skills and knowledge of the underwater world and some of the challenges faced in protecting our oceans.