Two Awarded 2025 Energy Development Scholarship

Jade Harding and Jamarly Toney are the winners of the Ministry of Energy and Business’ (MEB) 2025 Energy Development Scholarship.

They were presented with their scholarship awards by Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins, yesterday, at the Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael.

Mr. Harding, a Petroleum Officer with the MEB, will be pursuing his master’s degree in Geographic Information Science at the University of Edinburg in the UK, while Mr. Toney, a Civil and Structural Engineer with Spencer Thorne Consultants Inc., is headed to the University College of London, also in the UK, to study Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Management.

Senator Cummins told those attending the awards ceremony that she was confident that the future of energy in Barbados was in good hands.

“I’m particularly proud this morning to award these two scholarships. The first scholarship is going to Mr. Jamarly Toney…. His studies, we expect will equip Barbados with the kind of expertise that we need to design, in the first instance and safeguard in the second place, all of our infrastructure, not just against disasters that we’re familiar with, but we’ve seen the alerts very recently about Kick ‘em Jenny, the underwater volcano. So, earthquakes are part of the reality that we have to mitigate against. His dissertation is going to focus on resilience planning for renewable energy institution installations and ensuring that as we build solar and wind farms, substations and storage facilities that there are engineered to withstand future shocks,” she said.

The Minister added that fellow awardee Mr. Harding has not only been “a driving force” in the Ministry of Energy and Business for its GIS databases, supporting wind, solar and battery storage projects, but has also provided spatial data for marine planning and coastal hazard assessment.

“We expect that when Jade returns, his training will expand our capacity to do a few things like map and model climate impacts and disaster risks, and identifying optimal locations for energy infrastructure…. So, between Jade and Jamarly, we are investing in our future skills,” Senator Cummins stated.

She encouraged more Barbadians, especially young professionals who are pursuing master’s studies, to apply for the annual scholarship.

Mr. Harding said his goal was to effectively utilise and protect data in the energy sector and to be proactive when it comes to meeting the challenges that may arise.

Mr. Toney, noted that through his area of study, he was not only hoping to strengthen his engineering expertise and disaster management skills but also support the island’s transition into the renewable energy sector. 

Since it was launched in 2023, the Ministry’s Energy Development Scholarship has awarded over BDS$520,000 in scholarships. The scholarship programme has supported several Barbadians who have completed their master’s studies in fields that are essential to achieving targets outlined in Barbados’ 2030 National Energy Policy and its Energy Transformation Investment Plan. (PR)

Caption: Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins (centre), is seen here with the 2025 Energy Development Scholarship awardees (at left), Jade Harding and Jamarly Toney (at right) during yesterday’s presentation