Former Clarence Valley resident Joelle Gabriel has recently returned from Las Vegas, where she competed for the title of Ms Earth. The Ms and Mrs Earth competition is an international pageant with an environmental focus. Joelle said that she travelled to the pageant as brand ambassador for water3. “Water3 is a ground breaking social enterprise which aims to provide an alternative to bottled water,” Joelle said. “A percentage of their revenue goes to fund the Whitsunday Turtle Rescue Program, Eco Barge and local marine clean ups.” Joelle was one of around 56 women from around the world, who took part in the pageant. The women were judged on their interview, environmental involvement as well as evening gown and swimsuit. Joelle was placed fourth runner up [in the Ms category], winning the title of Ms Earth Logic. This was not the first International pageant for Joelle; in 2015 she won the Mrs Australia Universe title, which was held in Belarus. The focus topic for this pageant was ‘Domestic Violence and children’. Joelle said that this year’s pageant was an awesome experience. “The organisers hosted a lot of bonding activities, so that we got to know the other girls a lot more,” Joelle said. “It can be hard to really connect with people if you’re just standing in a line during rehearsals. “It was a very welcoming and very supportive environment with some fantastic women from all over the world. “I’m always amazed at the calibre of women that compete – it’s pretty impressive. There were doctors, lawyers; we had one lady who was both a doctor and lawyer. “We had ladies who were professional cross fitters or body builders. “We also had ladies that were a lot more curvaceous as well and I really liked how it wasn’t just judged on your looks for the staged section of judging, it was also judged on your confidence. “There was a lot of involvement with the judges and with the interviews, judging and photo shoots etc; they were pretty long days as well. “It was great; the relationships that I formed and the experiences that I had were fantastic.” Joelle’s involvement in both of these international pageants has helped to open doors to reach out to school students, to help raise awareness of both humanitarian and environmental issues. Joelle is looking forward to heading up another awareness campaign, which will be announced later in the year.