Paulita Bennett Martin

It’s me Paulita (she/her/ella). I am one of the founders of Sea of Life and serve as the first Director of Programs.

I am a proud Belizean-American with roots in South Florida and Belize City. It seems obvious to say, I am a lover of all things ocean. I started my career to protect the ocean in Belize writing the first published science on plastic pollution in the nation and catalyzing a grassroots movement. Then,

I joined an Emory University research team on the islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas to oversee research on invasive lionfish. This multi year project was funded by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States and included deep interdisciplinary research and community building in the Crucian and Thomaian fishing communities.

For over five years I held multiple positions with the world’s largest ocean conservation in the world, Oceana, where we worked to advance national ocean conservation policies across the globe. In my last role at Oceana I was responsible for overseeing our plastic policy portfolio. I’ve also worked as a direct advisor to the U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on a climate and community initiative.

I decided to leverage all of these experiences with high level decision makers to develop programs in my ancestral country of Belize for Sea of Life. And outside of Sea of Life I am also a Senior Program and Policy Advisor for The 5 Gyres Institute.

Through all these experiences I’m always reminded that community is the most important part of solutions. Now, I am excited to work on entrepreneurial and educational solutions for conservation within the Caribbean.

Connect with me on LinkedIn.