“We’d swim in rivers every afternoon, going around collecting fruits—mangoes were our favorite,” Marie-May Jeremie said. A native Seychellois, Marie-May is a conservation biologist who has dedicated her career to the preservation of the island’s endemic species and ocean ecosystems.
Her family has always been on Seychelles, though they’ve tracked their family tree back to an enslaved person from Mozambique. Marie-May grew up in a very loving home with humble means. She and her sister shared a room in a tiny two-bedroom apartment. Her parents, Marc and Jordana Jeremie, did not go to college but worked long hours at multiple jobs so she and her sister could have all they needed in order to excel in school. She had a happy childhood, and although they didn’t have much, they always had enough to eat, especially because her mother is a very good cook. At nineteen, Marie-May went away to college in Sydney, Australia, where she studied science and conservation and was excited to live outside the boundaries of what she knew—a big city after a lifetime in a more remote area. But she missed her family, especially her mother, with whom she remains close, and longed for the sense of community she had taken for granted. Above all she missed the fresh fish and bright flavors of her homeland, and spicy pickles like Lasos Piman, which Marie-May says she always has on hand.
