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.

Erika Gress has close to 7 years of research and conservation experience with her current focus being on mesophotic reefs (30 – 150m depth reefs) and black corals. She recently led a book review chapter on Mesoamerican mesophotic reefs for the ‘Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems, Coral Reefs of the World’, a Springer book. Additionally, she holds some experience working in the deep-sea (>200m depth)on invasive lionfish.

In recognition of her early career commitment to marine conservation, she was awarded the ‘Marine Conservation Leadership Award 2018’ by Fauna and Flora International and the Marsh Trust. Her work on mesophotic reefs and black corals spans different areas in the Mesoamerican Reef, Madagascar and Indonesia. Erika seeks to follow up this year with her work achieved in Mexico and plans to conduct research in the Indonesian reefs for consecutive years.

Doctor Dominic Andradi-Brown is a Marine Scientist at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), where he works on the monitoring and evaluation of marine conservation projects. He works closely with WWF teams and other partners in Indonesia, Fiji, and Mexico to incorporate best-practice science to inform marine protected areas.

Dr Andradi-Brown completed his PhD in the Ocean Research and Conservation Group at the University of Oxford, researching fish ecology on mesophotic coral reefs (reefs 30-150m depth). During his PhD, he worked as part of a team supporting the inclusion of these deep reefs into reef management plans and conservation actions in Honduras and Mexico. He has over 20 scientific publications, and his previous academic background includes a masters degree and a undergraduate degree in ecology from Imperial College London.

Dr Andradi-Brown is a member of the Reef Conservation UK steering committee, and in the past, has worked for organisations such as the Zoological Society of London and Operation Wallacea.

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.

Richard Madden is a travel writer and journalist who has written, co-written or ghost written six books including a Top Ten best-seller for TV adventurer, Bear Grylls. He has written for the Daily Telegraph for more than 25 years where he was also Adventure Travel Editor. Richard has travelled to all seven continents and is a specialist writer on African safaris where he recently spent two years filing the Bush Telegraph column for the Daily Telegraph. Now back home, he is focussing on travel in Britain with particular emphasis on walking and adventure activities.

A keen writer on conservation issues, Richard worked with Nekton on their first mission to Bermuda. His latest book for the National Trust The Great British Bucket List - Discovering Unmissable Britain will be published in May by Pavilion Books. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Blue Badge Tour Guide (MITG).

As Programme Director at the Coral Reef Alliance, Dr Madhavi Colton oversees an international portfolio of community-driven conservation programmes that are addressing local threats to reefs, including overfishing, land-based pollution and unsustainable tourism. Dr Colton is also spearheading new scientific research into how ecosystems adapt to the effects of climate change. This knowledge can then be applied to develop innovative approaches to coral conservation that can be replicated globally.

Her most recent paper, “Conservation plans that prioritise diversity can leverage evolution to adapt to climate change” (currently in review) analyses the results from a multi-year research project that used a powerful mathematical model to simulate different future scenarios for coral reefs, identifying the types of management networks that best facilitate coral adaptation.

Dr Colton’s expertise lies in building partnerships between academic researchers, conservation organisations, governments and local communities to implement durable solutions to conservation. She has worked in California, Hawaii, the Mesoamerican region, Indonesia, Fiji and Australia and has a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Steve Gresham is the Founder and Principal Designer of Gresham Yacht Design, a studio based in Mayfair, London, that specialises in the design of superyachts ranging from 50m to 150m.

Using a combination of traditional and digital techniques, Gresham Yacht Design conceives, develops and delivers a complete design programme to suit the needs of any client. Sketches, 2D and 3D renders, CAD drawings, videos, interactive 3D presentations and project management are at the team’s disposal to deliver the client’s vision. Interior design expertise is offered in collaboration with Seymour Diamond to deliver a complete turnkey service.

With over 30 years of experience in design, Steve has worked on a variety of projects from high performance craft, refitting vessels through to large private yachts. Each project is different and is approached with a clear mind and blank sheet of paper.

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.