Jo-Anne Sewlal facts for kids

Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal (born March 29, 1979 – died January 20, 2020) was a scientist from Trinidad and Tobago. She was an arachnologist, which means she studied spiders. Jo-Anne found many new types of spiders in her home country. She also created some of the first maps and studies of spider groups in different Caribbean countries.

Jo-Anne's Early Life and Studies

Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal was born in Point Fortin on March 29, 1979. In 1999, she started studying Zoology at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine. This is where she earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Science.

She continued her studies at the same university. In 2005, she earned her MPhil degree in Entomology, which is the study of insects. After that, she went on to get her PhD, which is a very high university degree, in Arachnology (the study of spiders).

Awards and Recognition

While working on her PhD, Jo-Anne won several important awards:

• A research award from the Royal Entomological Society in 2008.
• An International Darwin Scholarship in 2009 from the Field Studies Council.
• A NIHERST 2012 Award for Excellence in Science and Technology. She won this in the "Junior Scientist" group.

In 2008, the famous Smithsonian Institution asked her to help identify their collection of spiders from Tobago. This was a big honor for her.

Spider Discoveries and Research

Jo-Anne finished her PhD in 2013. After that, she became a lecturer at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine.

In her work, she traveled to many Caribbean islands to study spider populations. She visited places like Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Antigua, and St. Lucia. For many of these countries, her work was the very first time anyone had studied their spider populations. Her amazing work was even shown on the Science Channel!

Helping the Community

Jo-Anne was also very active in her community.

• She worked with an organization called Environment Tobago. She wrote articles for them in the Tobago News newspaper.
• She was an active member of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club (TTFNC). She helped lead searches for new spider species during their yearly BioBlitz events.
• As a university lecturer, she helped start the Point Fortin Chess Centre. This center aimed to teach schoolchildren how to play chess.
• At the time of her death, she was the Secretary for the Trinidad and Tobago part of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences.

Later Life

Jo-Anne Sewlal passed away on January 20, 2020. She died from an allergic reaction at the Port of Spain General Hospital.