Kate's determination
Geraldine Panapasa
Kate with a turtle. Picture: SUPPLIED
KATE Findlay is passionate about saving our marine environment.
Currently in Fiji on a six-month internship with WWF South Pacific under the Youth Volunteer Program, Kate's experiences that led her on this journey to our shores is quite a story.
Kate is Scottish. She was brought up in a village called Boghead. Although she's a quarter English, Kate says she's proud of her heritage.
She's been to places like Azerbaijan, a place she says is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north and Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south.
Her father worked at British Petroleum and their family lived abroad for years at a time in little-known places, travelling to different countries and experiencing different lifestyles.
"It's rather paradoxical because here's my father working for an oil company and now I work in marine conservation," Kate, also a vegetarian, said.
"I've spent a lot of my life, from the age of six, living abroad as an expat. I was lucky in getting to see a lot of Eastern Europe and lived in Krakow, Poland for two years.
"It's the old capital of Poland and they have some magnificent ancient castles there."
She completed her tertiary studies at the University of Edinburgh. In her third year at university, she took part in an exchange program and went to the United States for a year at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
"Ironically it's where I got really interested in conservation, LA's the most polluted city in America; they drive everywhere in unnecessarily gigantic cars and can be incredibly materialistic.
"However, when I was at UCLA, there was a conservation class that I took. At first I thought it sounded boring but the professors were really enthralling.
"What inspired me to go into conservation was a guest lecture by one of my favourite authors, Jared Diamond.
"He wrote a book titled Guns, Germs and Steel, a scientific book explaining why some countries are poor, why some are rich, why others are developed and others not so much; the answer he argues is nothing about race but about 'geographic luck', or the properties of the land you're from.
"He emphasised hope for the future and how we can help to fix environmental problems rather than just looking at what the problem was."
A day after graduation, Kate hopped on the first plane to Fiji. Not for her after-graduation party, but to work on a six-month internship with WWF South Pacific under the Youth Volunteer Program.
She had applied months earlier and got word of her posting to Fiji during her final exams. This, she says, pushed her to excel academically.
"When I got to Fiji, I just couldn't believe the plants that grew everywhere; in every tiny speck of land life seems to flourish. People here are really friendly and I've gotten used to Fiji time," she said.
"I've also noticed that despite the patriarchal structure of society, Fiji is a land of strong and inspiring women.
"I think there is a long way to go though to achieve the same level of respect for women as for men, and in the coming years the opinions of both genders need to change.
"I think my message to women here is to realise your own potential and demand the respect you deserve."
Even though her internship expires in December, Kate says she will continue to fight the good fight for our marine environment, even if it means boarding Greenpeace' Esperanza to chase down pirate fishing vessels in the Pacific high seas.
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