EPIC’s work in the Grenadines has never been driven by science alone. It has also been shaped by the people who know these islands best. Among them is Grenadian fisherman Vaughn Thomas, who grew up reading the ocean through seabirds and weather.

When Vaughn joined EPIC’s Grenadines Seabird Guardians citizen science program, he began to see the islands around him in a new way. What he once viewed mainly as fishing grounds, he came to understand was an interconnected ecosystem where seabird health, reef health, and local livelihoods rise and fall together.

Today, Vaughn is one of nearly sixty Guardians trained in recent years by EPIC to conduct seabird surveys, support community cleanups, and help safeguard nesting sites from poaching and disturbance. His knowledge of the water enriches conservation planning, and his mentorship of new Guardians ensures that these skills are carried forward.

His story reflects a core part of EPIC’s mission: inspiring local communities, empowering the people within them, and partnering with local leaders to run and manage EPIC programs. Over twenty-five years, this approach has strengthened fisheries and livelihoods and built capabilities and leadership that resulted in long-lasting conservation stewardship across the Grenadines.

EPIC is celebrating 25 years of conservation with 16 years working in the transboundary Grenadines - made possible by you and people like Vaughn.

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