Mariyam Niuma (Ni) has been drawn to the ocean, wildlife and the natural environment since childhood. She was born in Laamu Atoll in the Maldives, but grew up in Malé. She would spend many hours on the beaches exploring the reefs at her home in Laamu when she went there on holidays every year.
Growing up she was very concerned about the lack of proper waste management facilities and the increase in marine pollution in the Maldives and wanted to do something about it. Her educational background is in marketing and communications, which she uses to create awareness about the plight of the world’s oceans and advocate for its inhabitants.
Ni has been working in the tourism and hospitality industry in the Maldives in different capacities since 2012 and has actively been involved in marine conservation efforts wherever she has been based.
Ni started volunteering with the Olive Ridley Project in 2019 when she was working at Six Senses Laamu and later at Soneva Jani in 2021, where there are a lot of turtle nestings. She wanted to develop her career further in this area so she joined ORP as an intern at the Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in Baa Atoll in 2021. Here she got extensive training in sea turtle care and rehabilitation and finally joined as our Sea Turtle Biologist & Guest Educator at One&Only Reethi Rah, North Malé in July 2022. Ni conducts sea turtle population research in the atoll, provides educational outreach for guests and the public, and also takes care of our Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Centre and its patients.
