Marina was elected to the role of Vice Chair in 2020. Marina formed an early passion for the environment growing up in her family home in the hills of Lopinot, an unspoiled area of tropical forest. In 2001, she obtained a joint honors degree in Environment and Resource Studies and Biology from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Convinced that through the practice of law she could better serve as a guardian for the environment, Marina read for a degree in law obtaining her Bachelor of Laws in 2004. She was called to the Bar in 2006. Marina maintains a private practice as an attorney at law and an environmental auditor. Marina has also completed mediation training at the Hugh Wooding Law School and obtained O.S.H.A. 29 CFR 1910 General Industry Certification.
Marina’s litigation practice has achieved a number of environmental milestones in Trinidad and Tobago. She appeared in the first direct private party action under the Environmental Management Act as well as the first successful challenge to the environmental regulator in approving the establishment of an aluminum smelter. She most recently successfully challenged the water pollution rules as being in conflict with the polluter pays principle. Much of her practice is dedicated to public interest litigation on environmental and planning matters.