Deputy Director at the Mona Geoinformatics Institute in St Andrew, Dr Ava Maxam was a lover of mathematics and physics as a child.

“These are subjects that teach us about nature, how things work, just trying to understand the dynamics behind things,” Maxam shared during an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

The top scientist in her field said it all started with an uncle who worked on engines.

“He liked working with the airlines and fixing jet engines. He taught me a lot. He taught me about physics (and) it was just marvelous to me that these huge airplanes could fly because of how we engineer things,” said Maxam. She said she became fascinated with how things work just from observing her uncle at work and knew then what subjects she had to pursue to realise her dream of becoming a scientist.

“From there a love of physics and maths (developed) and of course a love of the ocean,” Maxam explained. She shared further that as a baby, she loved being in the water.

“I just wanted to understand what drove a lot of the processes in the ocean and how it affected us. So from my love of the ocean and physics and maths, I just fell in love with science,” she stated.

During her final year in university, Maxam did a coastal modelling course and that, she said, “led me to where I’m now”.

Maxam is among nine leading Jamaican women across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) who are being recognised by the Scientific Research Council (SRC) in its inaugural Science and Technology XXtrordineers Recognition Programme.

She was born in Kingston, Jamaica and began her education at Jamaica House Basic School before moving on to Wolmer’s Preparatory then St Andrew High School for Girls. She credits St Andrew High with helping her develop the foundation and principles in physics and mathematics. She was later introduced to geographic information systems because of her PhD in Oceanography, a big component of which looks at how things move and relate to each other across space.

Apart from her PhD, the science whiz also did courses in geography, geology and geospacial systems, in addition to completing courses in coastal dynamics in Holland.

“It was the combination of geographic information systems and oceanography that allowed me to specialise in these fields today,” she said before explaining that geoinformatics is the combination of IT and computer skills with geography while geography “empowers us to know where things are”.

“Geography also tells us a lot about how we can use the resources around us, thus taking advantage of what’s around us, knowing where it is and it does give us that edge in being able to utilise things to our best advantage,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Maxam opined that geography is a subject area that is taken for granted but which is all around us.

“It is in our navigation systems, and a lot of the algorithms that process where we are in relation to something else.

“It is so much a part of our lives now and it’s the basis of the geoinformatics – the combining of the computer, the technology with the knowledge of where things are”.

Maxam said her job allows her to look at solutions in space. “How do we find solutions from what’s around us and where they are located?”

During her 16 years with the Institute, Maxam has gained a lot of experience in developing systems for different companies and governments across the Caribbean region. She disclosed that recently, the Antigua and Barbuda National Environment and Information System (NEIS) was launched.

“The NEIS brings together a lot of environmental information, including on the state of the environment, conservation, climate change, what’s happening with our flora/fauna, what’s happening with our shorelines and then how this is impacting with certain industries – how does this impact our livelihoods, how does it impact work, where you live and so on,” said Maxam.

In the case of the Antiguan government, Maxam noted that it has signed on to various global treaties and agreements through the United Nations and stressed that her work plays a crucial part.

“In order to be able to report to the United Nations it’s important that these governments have this information available at their fingertips and that they are able to report on the condition of the environment,” she remarked.

She described the Mona-based Institute as a small university company based in Kingston. She said the company is seeing growing demand for the use of geography along with technology to solve problems.

“So we’re able to develop quite a few products with the expertise that we have here in geographic information systems,” she added while outlining that the Institute’s offerings/clients range from banks and insurance companies looking at where their assets are, where hazards and risks are, to building and environmental systems for governments”.

Said Maxam: “We’ve built systems to allow governments to monitor what’s happening with their environment. We’ve also worked a lot in health and security looking at why certain parts of the population may be impacted by certain things because of where they live or where they’re working so we would look at the demography and how that relates to certain health or security concerns.

“If you want to think of combining your sense of geography, where things are, with the resources around you, those are the solutions that we try to come up with and it’s because of that why we’re able to work across many sectors”.

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