Miriam Brown Bhurrah became an intern at the end of 2018. Though still a student of Geospatial Science, she put her studies to good practice at NatureFiji-MareqetiViti (NFMV) creating maps of all points of data collection during the Biodiveristy Rapid Assessment on the Nakanacagi Bat Sanctuary, for which she also ran transect lines using a handheld GPS.

As part of her internship, Miriam also produced a Species Profile for a workshop on IUCN RedList assessment planning. In addition, she assisted with data entry for a socio-economic survey conducted in Bua, and provided administrative support in areas including file sorting, acquittals, and payment vouchers.

Miriam shared her artistic talents with NFMV as well. She worked with NFMV volunteer artist Anne O’Brien to create earrings representing endemic species, which have been used for fundraising. Moreover, while helping to prepare educational materials related to Migratory Species Day, she illustrated templates of birds for a color-in competition and designed a selfie frame to be used at a public event.

Now in her final year pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree at University of the South Pacific majoring in Geospatial Science, the Analyst Pathway, Miriam is passionate about sustainable development, creating greener economies and safe guarding our pristine biodiversity from the growing threats of global warming and other severe impacts of climate change on our islands and ecosystems. She hopes to pursue graduate studies in Development Studies or Environmental Management.