Young, Black & Gifted:
Marine Biologist
Danni Washington
Turns Passion Into
Budding Career
Daniell “Danni” Washington knew ever since the age of six that she wanted to dedicate her life to saving the environment.
Washington’s parents gave her the chance early on to travel the world and see that there’s more to it than human life.
According to her mother, by age nine, Washington designed and drafted a plan for a marine mammal retirement center where she could save marine mammals kept in captivity at aquatic parks and facilities.
As an African-American child who grew up with both parents in her life, something that’s still becoming increasingly uncommon, Washington knew that she didn’t want to take those experiences they shared for granted. Washington, an only child, especially appreciated those experiences, because they introduced her to her love for the sea.
“A lot of women of color don’t have the opportunity to explore the ocean,” Washington said.
According to DoSomething.org, the most exposure any African-American gets to the environment involves living near pollution and waste facilities.
The site says the majority of those living in neighborhoods within 1.8 miles of America’s hazardous waste facilities are people of color, and that African Americans are 79 percent more likely than white Americans to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution may cause the worst health risks.
Regardless of such facts, Washington continues to promote environmental education and awareness.
She said she knows many minorities don’t take advantage of marine biology, but having people question her work actually fuels her drive.
“I like to be unique, and I want to be different,” Washington said. “I’m acting as a trailblazer.”
Washington encourages people to always follow their passion. Doing so is what led to her graduating from the University of Miami after double majoring in Marine Science and Biology.
While at the university, she acted as a team leader in the South Florida Student Shark Program and served on the executive board of the UM Marine Mammal Stranding Team.
Also while attending school, Washington entered and took first place in the ROXY Follow Your Heart competition presented by Schick® Quattro for Women®. Using the funds from the competition win, in 2008 Washington and her mother created The Big Blue & You, a nonprofit organization seeking to inspire and empower youth about the environment and ocean through the arts, service learning and media.
Washington said it’s important that ocean and environmental awareness start with the youth, because young people are so ready to learn and act immediately off of new knowledge.
Still, Washington said she isn’t just targeting younger people in her quest to spread knowledge about the ocean and keeping it clean and safe.
“My biggest goal is to bring awareness to the public,” Washington said. “What is unseen is kind of forgotten. If [people] don’t understand what’s happening out there and how what we do every day impacts the ocean, we’re going to lose the battle.”
Washington said the fact that the ocean is so vast and so much of it is unseen draws her to it. In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the ocean contains 99 percent of living space on the planet and supports the life of about 50 percent of all Earthly species.
“It’s so mysterious,” Washington said about the ocean. “It’s really the last frontier on the planet that humans haven’t fully researched.”
Washington so wants to expose and advance oceanic research; she’s committed to protecting and spreading awareness about it for as long as she can.
“It feels like something I can study for the rest of my life,” Washington said.
Such passion is what makes people like Vilma Sooknanan, chairperson of the Big Blue & You youth board, want to work with Washington.
“Her passion for the ocean is the biggest driving force for the Big Blue & You,” Sooknanan said. “We feed off of her spirit.”
Sooknanan also admires Washington’s dedication to everything she does. Sooknanan said that even when Washington has her hands in other projects, she somehow relates everything to the ocean or the environment as best as she can.
Some of the projects Washington has taken on include working with Untamed Science and the One Water Workshop.
According to the Big Blue & You site, Washington acted as an on-camera host and science filmmaker with Untamed Science for two years. The project produced more than 200 educational science videos for Pearson Publishing textbooks.
And the One Water Workshop is a five-day filmmaking workshop, put on by the Miami World Cinema Center, in which high school students make public service announcements regarding water conservation issues.
Washington said being on camera is something that she’d like to do for many years to come. A fan of filmmaking, Washington hopes at least within the next five years to have a television show educating children. She also just recently started working with a team on a project to do a short video series regarding the ocean.
Regardless of how Washington addresses conserving the ocean, those who work with her support her many methods and persistence in accomplishing her mission.
One person who has really seen Washington grow and has been impacted by Washington’s love of the ocean is her mother, Michelle Swaby.
“I am extremely proud of my daughter and I know that she has really made an impact on the children of this community,” Swaby, executive director of the Big Blue & You, wrote in an email. “For someone so young, she has accomplished more in her 25 years than a lot of people have in their lifetime! For that we are grateful and I am proud!!”
Like others who associate with Washington, Swaby also loves Washington’s drive and personality.
“Danni has been truly blessed with the gift of a great spirit,” Swaby wrote. “She brings light to any room that she enters and people love to engage in conversation with her about her passion for the ocean. My fondest memories of working with her will always be watching how she interacts with the children and young adults in our programs.”
For Washington, everything she does goes back to the youth and positively affecting the lives of those she encounters.
“The youth are the key to protecting the environment in general,” Washington said. “And I like to be a light in this world, no matter what the circumstances are.”