Somersfield Scholar Shines as Young Scientist, Poet & Wildlife Advocate

Gabrielle Reid is an animal lover with a knack for science who hopes to become a vet (Photo by Akil Simmons)

April 06, 2015 — Gabrielle Reid is only 13, but she has her future planned. Passionate about animals, she would like to be a veterinarian when she is older.

The youngest of three children, she came to The Royal Gazette to be interviewed along with her parents, Tony and Donna Reid. A short time spent with the brand new teen — her birthday was the weekend before the Easter holiday — demonstrated that she was a young lady with confidence, ambition and a warm personality. Gabrielle attended West Pembroke Primary and is now in the MYP1 programme at Somersfield Academy. She won a scholarship to the school.

Applying for the scholarship, she explained that there was an interview first and then a written examination.

Although Gabrielle is focused on the sciences, she said: “I got to the English section and had to write an advertisement for an endangered species. I kept on writing and writing!”

Gabrielle, who has older siblings, Joshua and Sierra, is now well established at Somersfield Academy and she has been on the honour roll at the school for the first semesters of her MYP1 and MYP2 school terms.

She has also written some poetry, and one of her poems was a contender for inclusion in the HBO series Saving My Tomorrow, which aired for the first time last December.

It was produced in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History and was described by its producers as a mix of scenes with museum scientists, portraits of animals and plants affected by a changing planet, and young people’s tips for taking better care of the Earth.

Gabrielle’s poem, Whispers of the Sea, had won the Bermuda Blue Halo writing competition.

“Between April and May 2013, Bermuda Blue Halo held its first writing contest for Bermuda’s youth between ages seven and 16,” Mr Reid said. “On the night of the closing date, Gabrielle penned the contest’s winning entry, Whispers of the Sea.”

The poem was published in The Royal Gazette and also publicised by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

“And,” said Gabrielle, “I got to meet Philippe Cousteau!”

Her father explained that in August 2013, Mr Cousteau, a famed advocate for the environment, CNN special correspondent and grandson of the legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, was in Bermuda as a guest of the Pew Charitable Trusts and Bermuda Blue Halo, organisations that worked towards setting up a protected marine area around the Island’s waters.

“During his visit, Mr Cousteau gave a public lecture at BUEI [Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute] on what the Blue Halo could mean for Bermuda,” Mr Reid said. “Prior to this lecture, Gabrielle, as the first-prize winner of the Bermuda Blue Halo’s first writing contest, was invited by LeeAnne Hinton, environmental consultant for the Blue Halo Project, to a meet and greet for a few invited guests with Mr Cousteau.

“Having met him, she received an autographed copy of his book, Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers & Wetlands.”

It was BSOA curator Lesley Rego Lesley Rego along with Debbie Cohen contacted HBO about Gabrielle’s poem. Although Whispers of the Sea was not included in the HBO special, the experience was a positive one.

The letter they received in the aftermath stated: “We are so grateful to you for sending your inspiring poetry to us.

“While we weren’t able to include your thoughtful poem and tips in the series, you truly helped us make this programme. Thank you for inspiring us and making a difference in the world.”

Gabrielle says science is her area of academic strength.

She called it “a broad subject”, and said it took her into a different world. “You get really involved,” she said of her science studies.

As well as her scholastic and literary endeavours, Gabrielle is a volunteer at the Bermuda Zoological Society and Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, where her favourite job is to work in the Madagascar exhibit, describing the animals that are housed there to visitors.

Her father explained: “She’s there to answer questions; the public love her!”

When she is volunteering at the aquarium, she said: “I feel I am in Madagascar, looking at the animals.

“The lemurs are housed there and the fossa, which is a natural predator of the lemur. The fossa is kept separated from the lemurs.

“I like watching the lemurs jumping around the fossa, teasing him!”

BAMZ highlighted Gabrielle in its August 2013 edition of the Wild Side newsletter as being of one of their youngest volunteers working in the Madagascar exhibit or the Touch Pool.

The young naturalist and scientist explained how she became interested in wildlife.

“I was visiting my uncle at his home and I have a love of cats,” she said. “I am mischievous sometimes, and saw a cat and starting petting it and befriending it.

“Across from his house there is a horse stable — I love horses and I love cats. It blossomed from there.”

For those young people who may be curious about nature and animals, but find they are engrossed in the online world, she said: “I would say to go for it. There are joys beyond the iPad and iPhone.”

Originally published in The Royal Gazette.