Ms. Susan Shurland, Permanent Secretary (Ag.)

Ms. Susan Shurland Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries

Ms. Shurland is currently the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries.  In 2018 and 2019, she held the position of Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts.

Ms. Susan Shurland is a former Secretary  General of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO, Ministry of Education (2006 to 2017).  Prior to that (1990-2005), she was employed at the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) where she worked in the areas of environmental education, project management and planning, and public relations and marketing, both in the Information Centre and in the Technical Advisory Services Department.  She also served as coordinator of the IMA’s Caribbean Marine Studies journal.

Ms. Shurland holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree, with a focus on Environmental Education, and a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning and Resource Development, both from the University of Waterloo, Canada.  She holds certificates in Public Relations from the University of the West Indies’ Institute of Business; in Marketing Management from ROYTEC; in Multilateral Diplomacy and in Green Diplomacy from the United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR).  Her favourite art form is dance.  She is a board member of the Metamorphosis Dance Company and committee member of the Astor Johnson Repertory Dance Theatre.

Ms. Shurland has as her motto “onward and upward”, encouraging persons of all walks of life to continuously persevere in the positive activities that will make our country a better place.