Meet the 2019 Ocean Talks Speakers

Dee Caffari is the Director of Dee Caffari Limited and in 2006, she became the first woman to sail solo around the world the wrong way, non-stop. In 2009 her 6th place finish in the Vendée Globe made her the first woman to sail solo and non-stop in both directions around the globe. Dee has completed more non stop circumnavigations of the globe than any other woman. As skipper of 'Turn the Tide on Plastic' - a mixed, youth focused team with a strong sustainability message - Dee completed her sixth lap of the planet in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18. Outside of sailing, Dee continues to showcase her talents in other areas such as TV and radio presenting, motivational speaking and supporting her chosen charities.

Richard Vevers is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Ocean Agency, an unconventional non-profit that uses the combination of creativity, technology and powerful partnerships to accelerate ocean science and conservation action. Prior to joining the field of ocean conservation, Vevers worked at some of the top London advertising agencies, and it is this background that allows him to bring a new approach to ocean conservation.

His ideas have included: taking Google Street View underwater, funding a global survey of coral reefs through a sports sponsorship model (XL Catlin Seaview Survey), revealing the coral reef crisis in the Emmy Award-winning Netflix Original Documentary Chasing Coral, and marketing a plan to save coral reefs called 50 Reefs. Together, these ideas alone have generated over $400 million in media value and over $100 million in funding for ocean science and conservation.

Frederikke Magnussen is the Co-founder of A Plastic Planet (APP) and Ocean Family Foundation (OFF). Frederikke left Denmark at an early age to pursue a career in fashion, living in Paris, Australia and New York. She studied Psychology at NYU and Birkbeck, exploring her passion for helping others, setting up ‘Being Human’ wilderness retreats to reconnect stressed people with nature, alongside Sille Lundquist.

During the mid-2000s, Frederikke became aware of the growing problem of plastic pollution in our ocean, during a screening of the first documentary feature on ocean pollution – A Plastic Ocean in which she played a role in the making. During the film launch Frederikke joined forces with Sian Sutherland to create the first APP campaign that asked supermarkets to give their customers choice by providing Plastic Free Aisles. After 12 months of extensive pressure on the food and drink industry, support from Theresa May as part of her 2025 Environmental Plan and considerable media coverage, the world’s first Plastic Free Aisle was launched; a symbol of possible change for the world. APP have this year alone opened another supermarket in London as a living lab to show that change can happen today with new innovations.

Privately, Frederikke and her husband have set up Ocean Family Foundation (OFF) with two other families who are passionate about conservation and education to protect the oceans the families share and love.

Seattle-based New Zealander Rob McCallum is the Co-founder and Expedition Leader of EYOS Expeditions and is regarded as the foremost provider of expedition services to the superyacht industry and holder of several world records. The team at EYOS Expeditions have lead over 1200 expeditions for private clients, scientists and film makers (often with all three groups combined) to the most pristine and challenging destinations on Earth.

Rob is presently managing The Five Deeps Expedition as the primary mission planner and as the Expedition Leader for each of the expeditions 10 dive projects. He has led multiple expeditions to Titanic (4000m), Bismarck (5000m) and helped with the design and management of many complex deep-water expeditions, including the search for AF 447 and James Cameron’s dive to the Mariana Trench in Deep Challenger.

Rob managed the refit of RV Nadir into MV Alucia, where his experience with the science, film-making and private adventure was able to be combined and infused into Alucia’s design. This experience lead EYOS Expeditions to be selected as the design partner for Damen Shipyards ‘SeaXplorer’ range of expedition yachts. These yachts continue the theme of enabling luxury yacht owners' full global access and the ability to support science, film making and private adventure.

Rob is a licensed aircraft pilot, a PADI Dive Master, a longtime member of the Explorers Club (NY) and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Doctor Alan Jamieson is the Chief Scientist on The Five Deeps Expedition and a senior lecturer in deep-sea biology at Newcastle University, UK. His research has made him a world leader in the biological exploration of the hadal zone (depths exceeding 6000m). He has designed multiple Hadal-Landers and has deployed them over 250 times in the ultra-deep subduction trenches of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding areas. Dr Jamieson has participated in, and often led, over 55 deep-sea expeditions covering every ocean. He has published over 80 scientific papers and sole authored the book 'The Hadal Zone, life in the deepest oceans', in 2015.

Highlights of his work include filming the deepest fish in the world, discovering supergiant amphipods in the hadal zone and a hadal species being named after him. He has also filmed in the deepest places on Earth; the Sirena Deep and Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. His work has featured in the BBCs Blue Planet II, and NHKs Deep Ocean, Descent into the Mariana Trench documentaries, and his discoveries have received extensive international media coverage. Dr Jamieson is also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Doctor Rob Hall is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Oceanography at the Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of East Anglia. He uses autonomous underwater vehicles to measure subsurface ‘internal’ waves in the ocean worldwide, from the shallow seas around the United Kingdom to the deep Southern Ocean. These internal waves, which can be hundreds of metres high, affect the strength of ocean currents and therefore the Earth’s climate. They also impact marine biology by supplying key nutrients from the deep ocean to photosynthesising organisms in the photic zone and resuspending organic material around deep-water coral reefs.

Dr Hall started his training in oceanography as an undergraduate student at the University of Southampton, followed by a PhD in Physical Oceanography at Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory and the University of Liverpool. He then spent three years working as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Hawaii before returning to the United Kingdom to become a lecturer at the University of East Anglia. He now teaches oceanography to students at a range of levels, from first year undergraduates to master’s students, including hands-on experience of ocean measurement during a field course in Scotland.

Simon Evans is an experienced project manager of sustainability strategy programmes for multinational companies. As the Sustainability Director of Ecobooth, Simon helps drive a new use for ocean waste plastic, through repurposing the material to create high quality event and exhibition stands using innovative technologies. Ecobooth ensue that ocean waste is put to use, and not incinerated or sent to landfill. Ecobooth are working to turn the wasteful events industry into a positive one, manufacturing with circularity in mind to create positive events from ocean waste.

Simon works with businesses, NGOs, governments, industry bodies and consumers to deliver advice to the executive level of brands in a variety of sectors including those just beginning their sustainability journey and those who wish to lead the way. Simon has 10+ years’ experience in the designing, implementation and strategic communication of sustainability strategy for brands who want to maximise positive environmental and social impact.

Doctor Tessa Hempson is a Senior Marine Scientist and Operations Manager for Oceans Without Borders, a project partnership between &Beyond and Africa Foundation dedicated to marine conservation and community development in East Africa. She is also an Adjunct Researcher at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Australia, where she completed her PhD, and continues to work with many of the world’s leading marine scientists on the most pressing issues facing our oceans.

Recognising the importance of working at multiple scales and the need for effective inter-sectoral partnerships, Oceans Without Borders offers a unique platform for bringing together diverse stakeholders to address the complex inter-related challenges facing coral reefs. At a local scale, Dr Hempson’s work in East Africa focuses on the inseparable links between coastal communities and the marine resources on which they depend. At a global scale she endeavours to raise awareness around marine conservation issues, highlighting that many of the threats facing our oceans are driven by consumer and political choices in the developed world, and that each of us can take positive steps in our daily lives to secure a bright future for coral reefs and oceans on which we ultimately all depend.

Alexander Flemming is currently the Co-CEO for Greenwich Maritime, part of the philanthropic OceanX program, whose mission to explore the ocean and bring it back to the world. With a background engineering and construction, Alexander’s career took him to sea working on various vessels completing several circumnavigations with adventurous owners, until stepping ashore over 25 years ago. He then continued a path of surveying and vessel refit/project management, usually for slightly discerning owners with difficult and complicated projects. This hands-on experience of both the high-end uber luxury work of the super yachting industry mixed with more adventurous global cruising has subsequently allowed Alexander to be uniquely placed with vessel owner’s looking for something a little different, including innovative projects like the Pegaso, a hybrid research vessel/yacht built in Vigo with its 5 PAX diver lockout submersible, and the Alucia which brought us some of the vivid images of giant squid, and the haunting views seen on recent BBC, Blue Planet II.

Amanda Keetley founded Less Plastic in 2015 to raise awareness of the ocean plastic crisis and inspire individuals and organisations to use less plastic. She has brought the “less plastic lifestyle” to a wide audience via her blog, infographics and social media following. She has also written a book, Plastic Game Changer, to empower professionals to accelerate plastic reduction efforts in their organisations. This features her practical five-step framework to become a Plastic Game Changer and invaluable insights from real-world Plastic Game Changers. She also offers talks and workshops, consultancy services and educational materials to inspire positive change.