The International Women’s Forum of T&T (IWFTT) has selected four outstanding, pioneering women in T&T to honour at its third annual Inspirational Women Awards Gala in September 2024.
One of these women, Prof Judith Gobin, recently retired head of the Department of Life Sciences and Professor Of Marine Biology at the UWI St Augustine, has been quietly called by the murmurs of the ocean for as long as she can remember.
Selected for the Inspirational Advocate Award, Gobin, the first female Professor of Life Sciences at the UWI and a career marine biologist will be recognised for her lifetime of service to our world’s oceans.
Born on Garth Road, Williamsville in South, Gobin was one of five children and remembers fondly “a fun childhood, where we always went to the beach and spent our long holiday vacations in Mayaro.”
Although she remembers a certain fascination with the sea, she never thought at that age she would end up as a marine biologist, and indeed, during her childhood years, there were few models of women in that field for her to follow.
Gobin went on to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in Zoology/Botany and began what would be a life-changing internship during her second year at UWI in 1981. She began working with the Institute of Marine Affairs full-time from 1982-1991 performing research on the marine environment to assess what life was present in our waters.
“I so enjoyed it,” she remembers. “Going to sea was my job! We were out sampling mangroves, sandy beaches, rocky beaches, doing basic research to compile baseline information on what exists in T&T.” This baseline data remains the core component of our database on marine wildlife.
Cemented in her passion for marine life and biodiversity, Gobin went to the UK in 1991 to pursue a PhD in Marine Ecology from the University of Exeter. When she returned four years later, Gobin not only came back to T&T wielding another impressive degree but also with her first baby in tow. Along with her husband, Godfrey Araujo, to whom she has now been married for 37 years, she embarked on a journey as a respected professional in the field, as well as the journey of motherhood.
She returned to the Institute of Marine Affairs in a senior supervisory position and remained there until her second son turned two. “Family comes first,” she says. “I decided to take a break when he was two and work from home, doing consulting.”
This ability to carefully weave a delicate web of balance between her personal and professional lives set the stage for Gobin’s success throughout her lengthy and decorated career.
In 1998, she began working at the UWI part-time and was engaged full-time in 2000. “I’ve spent a 40-year career immersing myself in marine research not only in T&T and the Caribbean but globally,” she says.
Gobin has had incredible highlights and landmark achievements throughout her years which have propelled her to the forefront of the field of marine biology in the region.
She recalled working at sampling stations as far as New Zealand and as remote as the Antarctic; joining a team of international scientists on a six-day deep sea exploration of the seafloor in the Caribbean; and discovering a species of purple octopus in T&T waters along with fellow marine biologist Dr Diva Amon during exploration on the E/V Nautilus.
During exploratory missions between 2012-2014, a new species of deep-sea tube worm called the Lamelliabrachia Judigobini was discovered in Caribbean waters by an international team of scientists and named after Gobin for her pioneering contributions to marine science.
Gobin described not only the naming as a crowning achievement in her career but also the lobbying and eventual repatriation in 2023 of the tube worm from the Natural History Museum in London to its rightful home at the UWI Zoology Museum for our scientists to benefit from.
Gobin became the first woman in T&T to hold the title of Professor in the Faculty of Science and Technology at UWI St Augustine in May 2020, another major achievement in her career in STEM, a field significantly dominated by men.
According to UNESCO data in 2024, women make up only 35 per cent of STEM graduates, a figure that has been unchanged in ten years, with only 28 per cent of female researchers in STEM accounted for worldwide. Gobin has shattered many glass ceilings for women in STEM in the country and region and has more than 55 publications in marine ecology and marine biodiversity.
She is the first scientist in T&T to have been appointed to the REV Ocean Science and Innovation Committee and was also appointed to a global advisory board on deep ocean stewardship.
She, however, does not bask in the well-deserved glory of her achievements but harnesses the influence of her role as an educator to encourage other young women to pursue careers in STEM.
“We are seeing a positive shift, in T&T we now have more women in the marine scientific field than men. I consider it a success in terms of being able to inspire and train young female marine researchers.”
Navigating the space has not always been easy for her, but it is her dedication and expertise that have always allowed her to garner respect.
“On the ship, there’s no distinction between man or woman, everyone is doing the same jobs and pulling their weight.”
As an educator, she mentors many young women and encourages them to speak out and be taken seriously in their careers. “To men, you may seem aggressive, but I saw a meme this morning that says the only difference between being assertive and aggressive is gender,” she laughs.
She also encourages young women to not be afraid to pursue both personal and professional lives, saying that balancing partners, family and a career is possible, especially with the strong support of your community.
Encouraging women to not run themselves ragged in the pursuit of “having it all,” she said that maintaining priorities such as personal health and wellness and trust in a higher being will pave the pathway to balance.
Prof Judith Gobin is a trailblazer in every sense of the word. Her award by the IWFTT is in recognition of a career devoted to service, to exploring and protecting the biodiversity of our country which is truly at the core of human survival in a rapidly changing environment.
Her work over a 40-year career as a woman in STEM, researcher, scientist, explorer, educator and mother has carved a new model of who women can become in modern society.
Thank you, Prof Gobin for your lifelong work and service to our seas.
