Maria Potouroglou is well known around our office as a happy person and can always be found with a smile on her face. Yet I have never seen her as happy as she was with seagrass in her hand, teaching people about the extraordinary characteristics of the marine plant and the many benefits it offers.
According to her staff page, Maria’s passion for seagrass dates back to 2007, but after travelling and spending some time with her I found out that her passion for the ocean actually started when she was a child. She has fond childhood memories of spending time with her family at Euboea, the second largest island in Greece. This raised a curiosity for what lies beneath the surface, which she promised herself to explore one day.
Fast forward over 20 years and Maria has become an accomplished scientist studying marine biology and ecology, biogeochemistry, remote sensing and basically anything to do with seagrass.
During March 2019 I travelled with Maria and three other GRID-Arendal staff members to participate and coordinate a ResilienSEA regional workshop for west Africa in Senegal. This is where I first observed Maria’s real passion for seagrass and her enthusiasm to teach others about everything related to seagrasses and their surroundings.
Below are a few clips of the team sharing their thoughts on the weeks work and Maria demonstrating her passion for seagrass:
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