Rhysha Brown Shares Highlights from High Seas Youth Ambassador Campaign

This blog post was authored by Rhysha Brown, a 2025 EarthEcho High Seas Youth Ambassador.

Rhysha Brown’s campaign efforts to build community engagement and support for the High Seas Treaty included: 

• Presentations and Educational Outreach:
  
  • March 11, 2025: Online presentation to 18 students at the Caribbean Maritime University in the Caribbean.
  • September 24, 2025: Presentation at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, to 25-30 students on the treaty's ratification in Jamaica and its significance.
• Film Screenings and Discussions:
  
  • May 22, 2025: Planning and execution of the David Attenborough Film Screening to promote global awareness of the High Seas Treaty. Senior government officials, diplomats, academics, and youth advocates were in attendance. 
• Social Media Engagement and Influencer Partnerships:
  
  • May 22, 2025: Interview with influencer Tia Mair, resulting in 100 interactions, 2,637 views, 4 comments, and 2 shares.
  • May 25, 2025: Instagram activation for High Seas Youth JA, reaching 3,216 views with 2,400 interactions over the last 90 days. 
  • September 24, 2025: Collaborative Instagram post with the President of Carimac’s student society, achieving 1,006 views and 52  interactions.
• Youth Involvement and Hackathons:
  
  • May 10–29, 2025: Mentored 4-6 selected participants in the Blue Citizens Hackathon, focusing on advocacy for the BBNJ Agreement. This included webinars with and 1 advocacy video created from the group.
• Recovery and Community Engagement:
  
  • October 2025: Preparations began to continue my school tour and a beach clean up, however Hurricane Melissa, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, hit southwestern Jamaica on 28 October as a Category 5 system, the worst hurricane to hit the area since 1988. A third of the country was in complete destruction with no light or internet and so all campaign activities were put on an indefinite pause. Recovery efforts began immediately which I took part in with the Jamaica Red Cross. I took the time to share information about the High Seas Treaty during this period to persons within the university and the wider community.
  • Events Post-Hurricane:
    
    • December 20, 2025: A Christmas get-together to celebrate the #60toGlobal Movement. 
• Upcoming Plans:
  
  • A questionnaire or focus group to gauge the audience's understanding of the treaty.
  • A blog on Jamaica's commitment to the High Seas Treaty through a natural disaster
  • A short film to be posted on Instagram summarizing the campaign’s impact.

‍“Being part of the High Seas Youth Ambassador program truly showed me how powerful ocean advocacy can be when it’s grounded in real communities like in my country. Through activities like watching a film on the ocean, I was able to have meaningful conversations with both youth and decision makers about why the High Seas Treaty matters for Jamaica. When Hurricane Melissa hit and so much of our work had to pause, it really put into perspective how connected ocean protection is to our everyday lives. Even during recovery, those conversations continued, and that’s what stayed with me and this is why the work doesn’t stop when challenges come, it becomes even more important.” - Rhysha Brown

Learn more about the EarthEcho Marine Plastics Ambassadors at https://www.earthecho.org/plastics-ambassadors.