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The environment plays a tremendous role in the Caribbean's growth and development. How often, though, do we consider its impact on education? In this episode, Dr. Jessica S. Samuel joins for a discussion on educational equity and the environment, with a special focus on the US Virgin Islands and the hidden racial  ramifications of environmental conservation on learning in St. John.

Dr. Jessica S. Samuel is the founder and CEO of Radical Education & Advocacy League, LLC (REAL) an educational equity firm focused on improving BIPOC student outcomes. An Afro-Caribbean woman, Dr. Samuel was born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands with roots throughout the wider Caribbean. She is an educator, interdisciplinary scholar, and decolonial activist who studies race, education, colonialism and the environment, including where they all converge in the United States and Caribbean. Dr. Samuel’s research has been supported by the Mellon Foundation, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and Social Science Research Council. She holds a PhD in American Studies from Boston University, a Master of Education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and a Bachelor in African American Studies and Anthropology from Wesleyan University. Dr. Samuel is also a proud alumna of Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Teach for America, and the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers. Follow Dr. Samuel on Instagram here.