KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tiana Shante Dinham has been named the 2026 Jamaica Rhodes Scholar, emerging the top candidate from a pool of eight finalists following deliberations by the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee on Thursday.
Dinham, who hails from Hanover and is a proud past student of Mount Alvernia High School, is currently pursuing studies in Geological and Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the founder of RISE — the Rainwater Initiative for Sustainability and Empowerment, a project developed in partnership with the Hanover Health Department to expand water access in underserved communities. Through RISE, Dinham helped raise funds to install water tanks across several districts and trained recipients in safe water collection, treatment, and storage.
With a strong commitment to environmental resilience and sustainable development, Dinham plans to pursue a master’s degree in Water Science, Policy and Management, as well as Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment. She will begin her fully funded postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford in October 2026, joining a global cohort of more than 100 Rhodes Scholars dedicated to creating positive change worldwide…