“My connection to the ocean is in my blood. I come from a long lineage of ancestors that were brought to Camissa (Cape Town) from Malaysia/Indonesia as slaves. This connection to nature is what drove me to study environmental science.”

Aaniyah focuses on work that connects people and nature. She has 15 years of experience in the conservation sector with a strong emphasis on finding the balance between what is good for the Earth and good for the people. Aaniyah is a founding fellow for the Women for the Environment in Africa leadership programme, in which she participated in 2021 and leads the Understanding and Adapting work for WE now.

Additionally, she co-facilitates the Science stream for the Homeward Bound program that focuses on women’s leadership in STEMM; and she is the founder and director of a non-profit organisation called The Beach Co-op, focusing on building communities that care. 

She is a registered third-year PhD student at the Environmental Learning Research Centre at Rhodes University.