Thirty years ago on a cold I embarked on a SCUBA diving course in The Red Sea. Descending into a world of teeming marine life and kaleidoscopic coral reefs was a transformational experience that would alter the path of my life forever.
In 2007, I first ventured to Fiji, igniting a passion for marine conservation and collaboration with ocean-dependent local communities. The journey deepened my connection to the natural world, fuelling a desire to make the ocean a central part of my life. After two more investigative trips to Fiji, I took a pivotal step and relocated to work with local communities, academia, and government on marine conservation and research efforts. This led to collaborations in Western Australia, Madagascar, and Papua New Guinea.
After nearly five years in Fiji, I came back to the UK and transitioned to the health and fitness industry. However, almost 10 years later a rekindled friendship with Dr. Cara Miller, a Cetacean Researcher and my mentor in Fiji, reignited my yearning for the ocean. Our correspondence in 2019 culminating in a journey to Australia and the Kingdom of Tonga to strategize a Humpback whale research and conservation endeavour. The emergence of the pandemic in 2020 temporarily halted our newfound partnership and instead, I spent six months in Cabo Verde volunteering on a Humpback whale research expedition.
That experience led me to meet literally dozens of inspirational and supportive people, each of whom has played a crucial role in the development of Big Blue Foundation. You can find some of those folks in the pages of this website and I will never be able to thank them enough for the positive impact that they continue to have on my life and on the growth of the Foundation.
