The graun and the solwara, the land and the sea, have always been part of her story. Growing up in Papua New Guinea, Carmel Pilotti experienced the best of both worlds. Some days were spent by the ocean, walking the reef when the tide was out, guided by salty air and warm water. Other days were spent on the land, surrounded by gardens and fruit trees, watching crops grow and learning the rhythms of the seasons.
Long before she became a scientist, Carmel was already learning how the natural world worked. In the Pacific, science does not begin in a laboratory; it begins at home. It begins in the garden, on the reef, and in the way we observe and respect our environment, our graun, our fanua. For Carmel, nature was her first “living laboratory”.
