Mission Blue Board

Dr. Sylvia A. Earle

Founder and President

National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence Dr. Sylvia A. Earle, called Her Deepness by the New Yorker and the New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and first Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine, is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for corporate and non-profit organizations including the Kerr McGee Corporation, Dresser Industries, Oryx Energy, the Aspen Institute, the Conservation Fund, American Rivers, Mote Marine Laboratory, Duke University Marine Laboratory, Rutgers Institute for Marine Science, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and Ocean Futures.

Formerly Chief Scientist of NOAA, Dr. Earle is the Founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, Inc. (DOER), Founder of the Sylvia Earle Alliance (S.E.A.) / Mission Blue, Chair of the Advisory Council of the Harte Research Institute, inspiration for the ocean in Google Earth, leader of the NGS Sustainable Seas Expeditions, and the subject of the 2014 Netflix film, Mission Blue. She has a B.S. degree from Florida State University, M.S. and PhD. from Duke University, 27 honorary degrees and has authored more than 200 scientific, technical and popular publications including 13 books (most recently Blue Hope in 2014), lectured in more than 90 countries, and appeared in hundreds of radio and television productions.

She has led more than 100 expeditions and logged more than 7,000 hours underwater including leading the first team of women aquanauts during the Tektite Project in 1970, participating in ten saturation dives, most recently in July 2012, and setting a record for solo diving in 1,000 meters depth. Her research concerns marine ecosystems with special reference to exploration, conservation and the development and use of new technologies for access and effective operations in the deep sea and other remote environments.

Prince Hussain Aga Khan

An avid tropical fish hobbyist since the age of five, and a reptile and amphibian enthusiast for nearly as long, Hussain Aga Khan developed a keen interest in conservation at a young age and began scuba diving at 14.

His photography underpins his passion for wildlife and ecosystems, and he uses this medium to inspire people to fall in love with nature and to encourage behavioural change that will have a lasting impact around the conservation of natural resources. Multiple photographic expeditions over three decades have led to the development of extraordinary archives, covering various geographical areas and habitats and many species, both marine and terrestrial.

Through his numerous exhibitions, publications and talks, Hussain has created a global platform to raise awareness around the protection of threatened species and ecosystems. He established his conservation organisation –Focused on Nature– in 2014, to support global conservation, advocacy and research efforts to protect biodiversity and habitats. Focused on Nature supports numerous conservation education initiatives for children and youth and partners with globally renowned organisations around the conservation of endangered species and rainforests.

His exhibitions, The Living Sea and Fragile Beauty have been shown around the world, including at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco (2015, 2016), the National Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon (2019), The Natural History Museum, Venice (2022), the Bahrain National Museum (2022), the Glenbow Museum, Calgary (2023), the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (2023) and the Nairobi National Museum, Kenya (2024). He has also exhibited his photography at international conferences including the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, Kenya (2018), the EAT Stockholm Food Forum, Sweden (2019), the UN Oceans Conference, Lisbon (2022), the World Forum on Enterprise & the Environment, Oxford (2023), and at the UN Conference of the Parties (COP28), Dubai (2023).

Hussain is committed to conservation education and has made presentations to educational and cultural institutions including SIPA, Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, New York (2004, 2017), the Natural History Museum, London (2022), the Hess Center for the Arts, Deerfield Academy, USA (2023), the Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Center for Culture & Research, Bahrain (2023), and the Universities of Calgary and Waterloo, Canada (2023). Hussain is a board member of Mission Blue and the Shark Conservation Fund, a member of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation’s Council for Hope and the National Geographic Impact Story Lab Advisory Council, an Ambassador for the Natural History Museum, London, and one of Marevivo’s Cavalieri Per Il Mare (Knights for the Sea).

He has published four books, Animal Voyage (2004), Diving into Wildlife (2015), Fragile Beauty (2022), and The Living Sea (2022).

Nicola Esposito

Nicola Esposito is a dedicated ocean advocate from Panama with a strong passion for marine conservation. Growing up along the coast, his connection to the sea was inspired by his family’s deep love for the ocean. With a maritime education from the United States Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point), including an ocean-spanning circumnavigation during his studies, he possesses a comprehensive understanding of maritime operations. His global exposure and expertise in sustainability, real estate, and business excellence equip him to contribute significantly to marine conservation efforts. Nicola‘s involvement in NGOs like United Way Panama and Fosart further demonstrates his commitment to making a positive impact on his community and environment.

Ted Janulis

Ted Janulis is Founder & Principal at Investable Oceans, an investment banking platform based in NYC that seeks to bring market-based capital to the oceans to accelerate the transition to a sustainable blue economy. Over a 40 year business career, Ted has served in various executive positions, including CEO at financial institutions involved in Capital Markets, Banking, and Asset Management. He is President Emeritus of The Explorers Club in NYC and serves on numerous for-profit and not-for-profit boards, including USA Today, Inc., Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), One Ocean Foundation, and Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment Board of Visitors.

Kristin Lindblad

Kristin Lindblad works at the intersection of philanthropy, activism, communications, and international relations, devoting herself to cultural and environmental protection on a global scale. For two decades, and across every continent, Kristin has refined her expertise in communications, public relations, nonprofit consulting, and strategic development. As the creator of Kristin Lindblad Philanthropy, she works with individuals and organizations to bring new visions of humanitarian work to life. Her work builds initiatives for a better world today and for generations to come, raising awareness for critical causes, implementing high level analysis and funding, and making connections to amplify impact. She runs the Wanderlust Fund in partnership with her husband, Sven Lindblad, who is founder of international travel company National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions. Wanderlust provides vital funding to organizations dedicated to cultural and environmental protection with a focus on the ocean and indigenous cultures, global relief efforts, children, and the arts. She also serves as ambassador to numerous international NGOs working on the frontlines of conservation. Educated at the Woodrow Wilson School of Government and Foreign Affairs at University of Virginia, Kristin moves through the world with the savvy of a scientist, the acumen of an entrepreneur, the spirit of an artist, and the drive of an activist-explorer. In 2018, she launched OCEANSCAPES, an artivism platform inspired by years of collaborative ocean exploration and experiential insight. Combining art with storytelling and science, OCEANSCAPES asserts the power of beauty to inspire both empathy and action. Her writing, photography, and OCEANSCAPES artivism platform have been featured in publications including Scientific American, Newsweek, and Virgin. Kristin is based between Maui and Charleston and travels the world often with her daughter and husband at her side, always always eager for the next adventure and the next project that will build a better world!

Robert Nixon

Robert Nixon is an American film director, writer and lifelong conservationist. Raised in a Philadelphia suburb, he aspired to be a field biologist before taking up a career in film. His films, often focus on the battles of tribal peoples and field biologists, include Amazon Diary, America The Beautiful, The End of the Game, Fossey’s War, Gorillas in the Mist, Endangered Species and Mission Blue.

Amy Novogratz

Amy’s career as a change maker has focused on building collaborative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Through work with the deep ocean scientist Sylvia Earle on an ocean conservation initiative, Amy and her partner realized the urgency of reducing pressure on our ocean and saw investing in the transformation of aquaculture to a healthier and more sustainable food system as a vital part of the solution. They launched Aqua-Spark, the first global investment fund dedicated to sustainable aquaculture in 2013, and have built a global ecosystem of portfolio companies, partners and investors who share their vision of a systems change approach to a new food system. In the decade prior, Amy started and served as director of the TED Conference’s annual TED Prize, leading more than twenty global collaborations across a broad spectrum of sectors, including healthcare, education, science, technology, conservation, art, and activism. With TED, her list of notable projects include: Jamie Oliver’s Food revolution, JR’s Inside Out Project, Bono’s One.org and Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue. Before TED Amy helped to build startups in both social policy (Social Policy Action Network) and media (Chat the Planet).

Shannon O’Leary

Shannon O’Leary is an avid ocean advocate, serving on the Board of WildAid, as well as on the Executive Committee of Mission Blue / Sylvia Earle Alliance and as Executive Director of the EarthSense Foundation.

Gabrielle Raymond McGee

Gabrielle Raymond McGee is a creative marketing Executive in New York City and Philadelphia where she leads the Tory Burch Foundation as Chief Operating Officer. Under her leadership the Tory digital initiatives have become the go to resources for women entrepreneurs. Gabrielle is responsible for creating the Seed Box, a sold-out curated box featuring women-owned products, marketing the Capital program, which has deployed $50 million+ in loans for women. She conceptualized the digital campaign: EmbraceAmbition.org celebrating female ambition which has reached people in 98% of the world’s countries. Prior to the Foundation, Gabrielle worked in Sports & Entertainment. Her experience in sports includes working for Major League Baseball, as part of the Special Events and Cause Marketing teams working on the All-Star Game and World Series. As one of the first employees in MLB’s cause marketing department, she conceptualized and launched the League’s first ever site dedicated to all 30 Clubs and players’ charitable initiatives via MLBCommunity.org. While at the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, she launched the national PSA campaign, OurBravest.org, which builds technology-led homes for quadruple and triple amputee Veterans returning home. She holds a Masters in Public Administration in Nonprofit Management from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. Gabrielle received the Stanford Intellectual Contribution Award three times. In 2018, she was named to the Marketing Hall of Femme, which celebrates the brightest female talent in marketing. Gabrielle’s fondest memories include growing up in Long Beach, Long Island advocating for the ocean.

Philippe Prufer

Philippe has a degree in Economics from UFRJ (Brazil), an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross Business School (USA), and participated in training at various institutions, including Harvard (USA) and INSEAD (France). He was an executive at Eli Lilly & Co. from 1988 to 2010. During his twenty-two years at Lilly, Philippe performed functions in Strategic Planning, Sales, Marketing and General Management in Brazil, Argentina, USA and Europe.

Before joining Lilly, Philippe worked for L’Oreal and Brahma (now Ambev/ABI) in Brazil. Since 2011 he has been the Senior Partner and CEO of SKP (Brazil) where he manages a broad portfolio of ESG and Impact investments around the world.
He is a Partner and CEO of the Philanthropic Association IEP/AIEP (Brazil), which supports projects in the areas of Environment (focus on Marine Conservation and Forests), Education, Health and Human Rights. He is a member of the Board of Mission Blue (USA), of the Board of the Instituto Ayrton Senna (Brazil), of the Advisory Committee of the Islands of Rio Project (Brazil), of the Advisory Committee of WWF Brazil and of the Amazon Concertation (Brazil). He was a Board Member of Mangels (Brazil), GTT (Brazil), WWF International (where he was the Leader of the Finance and Investment Committee), WFF Brazil (where he was the Leader of the Marketing Committee and Chair), Amcham Brazil, Amcham Argentina,
Interfarma and Caeme. He was recognized as “Value Executive – Pharmaceutical Sector” in 2005 by Valor Economico (Brazil), “Leader of the Pharmaceutical Sector” in 2004 and 2005 by Gazeta Mercantil (Brazil), “Spirit of Amcham” in 2005 by Amcham Brazil and “Wertman Alumni Service Award” in 2009 by the Michigan Ross Business School (USA). Philippe has a multicultural background. He lived in several countries, and communicates fluently in various languages. He currently lives in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil.

Shari Sant

Environmental philanthropist and ocean activist Shari Sant is President and Founder of Code Blue Charitable Foundation, Secretary/Trustee of the Summit Charitable Foundation, founding board member of the Sylvia Earle Alliance, and Vice President of Seacology. Shari is also a member of the Ocean Unite and Blue Ocean Film Festival Advisory Boards, and the World Wildlife Fund’s National Council. As a member of the Smithsonian Ocean Initiative Advisory Council, Shari helped create the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History. A proponent of impact photography and filmmaking Shari is also Executive Producer of the Netflix documentary “Mission Blue”, and Associate Producer of “Chasing Coral” on Netflix. She is also Executive Producer on “Sharkwater Extinction”, “Ghost Fleet” and “Anote’s Ark” currently in production.

A graduate of NYU, Shari worked as Senior Stylist and Design Director for Ralph Lauren in New York for nine years, then as Visual Director at Esprit. She later founded the environmental lifestyle store, Worldware, in San Francisco in 1994. She sold the business in 2001, and now devotes herself full-time to environmental work, with a focus on producing impact media to inspire change.

An avid diver, photographer and ocean activist, Shari travels extensively throughout the world promoting ocean conservation and environmental awareness. She is married to Dan Plummer and lives in Malibu and in the Catskill mountains of New York.

Vasser Seydel

Vasser Seydel graduated with cum laude honors from the University of Georgia, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. During her time in Athens, Vasser worked for UGA’S Office of Sustainability as the Grants and Engagement Director, represented the university as the UGA Student Sustainability Ambassador, and pursued an education outside the classroom as an intern at the United Nations Foundation and TEDWomen. After graduation, she began consulting with non-profit, business, and individual clients, specializing in communications, digital media, and strategic development, to enhance brands that create positive impacts on society. Vasser continues to promote and support her family’s legacy and commitment to environmental responsibility through her family’s foundation, the Turner Foundation, as a board member and the first Chairperson of the Turner 3rd Generation board. Additionally, she serves on the board of directors for the National Center of Family Philanthropy and is a Global Ambassador for Julian Lennon’s, White Feather Foundation, and an Arctic Angel for Global Choices. Most recently, Vasser has taken on the Deep Seabed Mining issue as the Campaign Director at The Oxygen Project and has the honor of representing the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as the IUCN Environmental Youth Ambassador.

Elizabeth (Liz) Taylor

Liz Taylor has been involved with DOER Marine from its inception, becoming President in 1994. The company designs/builds submersibles and other subsea systems. As an advisor to Cal Maritime, the Wild Oyster Project and Deep Hope, she advocates for public access to the water and broadening coastal resiliency. She has participated in more than 60 scientific diving and ocean exploration projects including Explorer’s Club flag expeditions. She has authored numerous articles and white papers. Liz is the recipient of the prestigious inaugural Wings Women of Discovery innovation award, an East Bay Innovation Award, Manufacturer of the Year award from AMBayArea, an Explorer’s Club Fellow, an inductee of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, a Scuba Diving Magazine Sea Hero, and co-hosts the Dive In with Liz and Sylvia series produced by The Ocean Elders. In 2024 she founded Area41Alameda to accelerate innovation in coastal protection, ocean monitoring/sampling, and waste remediation.