A fascination with the natural environment and a deep desire to understand how it all works have been driving forces towards academic success for Dr. Byron Winston for as long as he can remember. Therefore, graduating with a Ph.D in Environmental Dynamics and reaching education’s pinnacle seemed a logical progression in his career.
Dr. Winston, now aged 34, was born and raised in the community of Newtown, in the Commonwealth of Dominica. He graduated on May 14, 2011, from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Department of Geosciences, with a Ph.D in Environmental Dynamics – a programme designed to investigate the interactions between humans and the environment and the potential impacts that these anthropogenic actions may have.
Dr. Winston’s research focused on determining why the drinking water contained an earthy, fishy taste and odor during the summer months in Fayetteville. He was able to determine that the problem was related to the growth of certain algae and that the problem occurred during periods of drought followed by heavy rains. Dr. Winston also determined, through sediment geochemistry, that sediments in lakes used for drinking water can be used to archive changes in land use in areas surrounding the lakes.
In the course of his Ph.D, Dr. Winston raised over 150,000 U.S. dollars for his research, was featured in several news articles and received awards, grants and scholarships from the National Association of Black Geologists and Geophysicists, the Geological Society of America and the Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation.
A former student of the Saint Mary’s Academy (S.M.A) and former employee of the National Bank of Dominica, Dr. Winston attribute much of his success to the great educational foundation that he received at the S.M.A. He cites Mr. Albert Tyson, Mr. Adrian (Reds) Durand, Mr. Aurelius Jolly, Ms. Rosemary Jolly and Mr. Dally as some of the best teachers he has ever had. He also credits Mr. Russell Wilson and Mr. Cerillo Chance – former classmates at S.M.A who helped him with Math in third form – as being instrumental towards his reaching this milestone. He believes that a healthy, competitive class atmosphere and great camaraderie with his classmates were also important driving forces towards his success.
Dr. Winston is happy with the efforts that the government has taken to ensure that more Dominican students acquire degrees from colleges and universities, but believes that funding and assistance for this should increase.
According to him, “We have an amazing intellectual capacity on the island that is not being developed to its full potential”. From his experience, being able to show enough money to obtain a visa was the most difficult part of getting to college. He states that it would not have been possible without the help of Ms. Jacqueline Fadelle, Mr. Willie Gregoire, The Charles Foundation, his parents and others who believed in him and in his ability.
Dr. Winston encourages Dominican parents, teachers and politicians to believe and support their children’s dreams and to encourage them feverishly to attain academic excellence, because education is truly the ultimate equalizer.
i would like to thank everyone for the wonderful comments and wishing my son much more success in his carreer
You make us all proud Byron. Congratulations! Solid Men of Action!
I am indeed proud Dr. Byron.Your entire community is too.Your humility certainly stands out. CONGRATULATION DOC!!!
well done son of the soil i pray god for you that your will continue to do well for yourself family and dominica by extension. one love
Congrats to you Byron. I see the seeds of prayer you planted,(in St. Alphonsus) have borne great fruit! Always put God first- there’s no telling where He can lead you!
congrats good vibes
As a PhD candidate myself, it is with utmost pride that I congratulate you, a fellow Dominican, on your wonderful achievement…You remain an inspiration. All the best and continue to make us proud!!!
Congratulations Dr. Winston. Job well done bro. SMA class of `94 and sixth form class of `96.
Thank you very much for all the positive comments. Undoubtedly there are many more people to thank and my parents have gotten their fair share. There are people to thank who don’t even know that they had an impact on my life. For example, Cyrille who would let me ride the bus to school even when I couldn’t afford it. Jennifer Doctrove who always fried me some chicken when I came to visit, or Ma Carlton Phillip who made sure I had a great bowl of soup every Thursday to eat. The list goes on!In the article I attempted to demonstrate the importance of people who were not related to me biologically but believed in me enough to support my dreams. I did this to encourage those who have the resources, knowledge and ability to help to do so for the overall development of our communities and our country. My dad and mom taught me the importance of hard work, my grandma taught me the importance of giving and service, my uncles taught me the importance of humility and my aunts taught me compassion. I also received these lessons from others but the foundation was laid at home. Again, thank you to everyone who commented and for your contributions to my accomplishments. You may have thought it was an insignificant contribution but it was significant in my eye!
Congratulations boss!! Nuff respect!!You are exceptional and exemplary!!
I remember you! Congrats!! You make us proud.
Congrats Dr. Winston!! Positive vibes
congrates brother.. be proud, represent..bless
thats from one of your boys back in the day
Congratulations to Dr. Byron Winston on his great achievement. Dr. Winston mentioned the names of the many persons who helped him. Dr. Winston encourages parents, teachers and politicians to believe and support, their childrens dreams.
If Dr. Winston is reading these comments, he will notice that he inadvertently forgot to mention his parents names.
allyuh Dominicans dont read
He states that it would not have been possible without the help of Ms. Jacqueline Fadelle, Mr. Willie Gregoire, The Charles Foundation, HIS PARENTS and others who believed in him and in his ability.
Can you identify his parents by capitalizing HIS PARENTS? That’s why “Ti Kwen” asks for his parents’ NAMES. We want to know the names of the good folks in Newtown. We’ve had enough of the others.
WELL DONE BYRON. KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU. YOUR HUMILITY MAY WELL HAVE BEEN A FACTOR IN YOUR ACHIEVEMENT
WE FROM THE FORTUNE/HARLEM COMMUNITY ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU
VALINA, MA ELNOR AND THE REST OF THE FAMILY, TAKE YOUR BOW
MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU SON
Congrats Dr Wilson! A shining example of the caliber of men that came out of Saint Mary’s Academy. Byron was the perfect balance between a fun loving, jovial guy who also knew when it was time to hit the books. Many of his classmates, myself included, looked up to him at SMA for this very reason. Proud of you bro!
Julien Nkosi Johnson (SMA class of 1994)
Hello Byron,
Congrats for a job well done. You have made yourself your country and Dominica proud. I know you parents, particularly your grand mother is beaming with much pride. Go for the professorship
Congrats again
I am really happy to see someone who persevered despite the odd and took the opportunity when it presented itself. Too often we see so many people waste opportunities and then turn around and blame other people for their lack of ambition.
Well done Dr. Winston. I wish your story stands as an example for those who will follow in your footsteps.
Way to go Dr. Winston..Proud of you!
Nice to see a former class mate succeed in his pursuit,sincere congratulations Byron. Don’t forget home….
Congratulations to you on your achievement. Give God praise
CONGRATULATION MY BROTHER.
My Brother , My Friend, Congratulations on your achievements.always a hard working, determined individual you are indeed an inspiration to all.
congrats Byron am proud of you, well that is something u know, you among others have shown that Newtow , Fortune and Citronier do have educated children.You are indeed an inspiration to us all.
congratulations brother dear. your sisters are very proud of you. way to go.
Congrats Byron.
Congrats Byron!!!
Dr. Winston, I am so proud of you. This is another example of how hard work pays. I still have my card and I am happy to have ‘hustled’ you for your end of day work. As you rightly said it was not hustle but preparation for meeting deadlines. I wish you and your family continued success.
Well done Byronne
CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER HERE
WELL DONE!!!!!!
I’m proud of u. Keep shining for us all
WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now tat the way to go in this 21st century.
Good work Byron. Another past Biology student making his mark globally
congrats brother , well done.
Respect, newtown is the best town.
But really it goes to show if you can dream it you can
Achieve. I love seeing my da people educated themselves
This article warms my heart. Here is another student who excelled and whom I regard as a great role model that youths/students should emulate.
encouraging you in every manner possible and all the way. They, too, are obviously happy for you, are proud of you and are satisfied that they were instrumental in your earlier education at SMA which you have appreciated.
Dr. Byron Winston, congratulations to you. Your Ph.D is well earned and deserving of the honored title of “Doctor – Ph.D”.
It surely takes hard work, effort and perseverance to achieve this goal which is a milestone.
Your parents and other members of your family must be extremely proud of you and your achievements. They have every right to be.
I do know a few of the people you mentioned who taught you. I expected this from them as also disciplinarians,
You have no doubt patiently and attentively taken their teaching, advice and guidance seriously, stating the great educational foundation you received has assisted you in also furthering your education.
Rest assured that you are indeed envied. You are one ambitious person. I do hope that the present students will pay heed to your excellent advice.
I do believe that one of the names which was mentioned as Rosemary Jolly is Rosamund Jolly, unless she has changed her name.
Dr. Winston I wish you all the best in your profession. You will surely take advantage of and make the most of every good opportunity that crosses your path during your career. A person of your caliber, I have no doubt that you will strive for higher goals.
I also wish you a long life, health and strength. May God bless you always and assist you throughout the future years!
This appears to be a humble young man who will do very life in his professional life.
Bless Up Bro! Congratulations Doc!
Congratulation Dr. Winston on you achievements
congrats Byron another soil from Newtown.Praises also go to your mother vALINAand Granny Ma Elnor.
Congrats Byron, hard work pays off.
congrats Dr. Winston
marry me!!!
Congrats my brother…. nuf respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another Doctor on the land….whowho!!! and they want us to believe that boys (males) can’t perform academically? Congrats Dr. Winston
ORA et LABORA ….Joe
good job
now come back and fix up the mess that the geopoliticoexsocioenvironmental agents are causing in dominica
You are here why you doh fix it?
Leave it out this is the wrong time to bring this into discussion!
Congrats Byron.
Excellent Young Man. Congratulations, hope you will come home some day to impart what you have achieved on the young minds in Dominica. What amileston
Well done BYRON
YOU HAVE continued in the GREAT ACADEMIC TRADITION OF THE HARLEM PEOPLE
Congratulations
you are in deed a great asset to humanity
May the good lord continue to guide you
as you proceed to inspire humanity
IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU
WE ARE HAPPY IN HARLEM TO HEAR SUCH GREAT NEWS
Congratulations! Real Dominican Brother,people like you we all have to look up too, and ensure our brain drain is eradicated. You said it better than any one could and point out some of the problems which if not slove immidiately will sink us to the bottom. Good luck to you and your family continue to shine.
Congrats Doc. I trust that you would still be game to have a gel kochon and red beans soup, and wash that down with a long cold lime skwash, some day. Big up man, we are all proud of you at Forestry where you did your internship as an undergrad a “couple” of moons ago.
Congrats man…I simply love it when my people prosper.
conjgrate son we all look forward in seeing you bring more of that to dominica
my boy nuff respect, you deserve it…
Congrats Byron! Another example of what can be achieved by sons of Newtown/ Fortune/ citronier. You are indeed an inspiration to us all.
Bahyeah!!! Keep holding it down proud to have sat amongst you bro
Congrats Dr Winston! You are the ideal for every student to emulate. Again, job well done.