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MEET THE TEAM

Our team are passionate about marine environments

Staff and volunteers across Australia

The dedicated team of staff and volunteers at Tangaroa Blue Foundation work to reduce marine debris on shorelines across Australia. 

 

Tangaroa Blue Foundation now has more than thirty permanent, part-time and casual team members, including 24 project coordinators who bring volunteers together in their region to conduct beach clean-ups and regular monitoring for the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database.

 

We also have team members working behind the scenes on scientific reports, evidence for government inquiries, analysing marine debris data and producing source reduction plans to help stop marine debris at its source.

GET IN TOUCH

MEET OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

As a registered charity and not-for-profit organisation, Tangaroa Blue Foundation is governed by a board of independent and volunteer directors who are appointed by the organisation’s members.

 

 

The Tangaroa Blue Foundation Board is made up of seven Directors who are based around Australia and bring strong guidance to the organisation as it continues to grow and deliver our mission and vision.

 

 

Our Board of Directors are listed below and can be contacted via email at board@tangaroablue.org.

OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Behind the scenes of every not-for-profit organisation is a management committee that is responsible for the organisation’s legal/financial accountability, strategic vision/objectives, fundraising and advocacy.

Our Management team are listed below and can be contact via email at info@tangaroablue.org.

Heidi Tait

Managing Director and Co-Founder

Heidi founded Tangaroa Blue Foundation in 2004 in the the South West of Western Australia.

Heidi's love for the ocean comes from her 20 years' experience as a scuba diving instructor.
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EMILY LARKIN

General Manager

Emily works closely with the CEO and Board of Directors to manage business operations and improve processes and employee experiences.

Emily has a background in people, processes and systems.
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MATHILDE GORDON

Senior Project Coordinator

Mathilde oversees major projects, including ReefClean, and works closely with Project Coordinators to deliver results.

Mathilde has always had an underlying passion for the environment and conservation.
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JODI JONES

AMDI Database Manager

Jodi plays a pivotal role in shaping the AMDI Database into what it is today.

Outside of her passion for data and marine debris, she provides training support to Gladstone and District Wildlife Carers Association.
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OUR AMBASSADORS

Tangaroa Blue Foundation has an international network of volunteers and partners who collaborate with Tangaroa Blue Foundation through the Australian Marine Debris Initiative.

 

The AMDI network has introduced us to some of the most passionate, inspirational and dedicated people on the planet who have honoured us by agreeing to accept the title of Tangaroa Blue Ambassador.

 

Our Ambassadors are based around the world and are true role models and leaders in their communities and networks, making a positive impact on the health of our environment and inspiring others to do the same.

Bernadette Davis

Ambassador

Bernadette’s passion for protecting the ocean comes from a lifetime of living close to the sea, exploring our coastline and searching out her favourite surf breaks.
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Owen Harris

Ambassador

Owen is a very passionate little Wildlife Warrior. He might only be eight years old but he sure packs huge passion and dedication into that little human. He loves everything to do with wildlife and he wants to do all he can to help protect them.
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Poppy Ives

Ambassador

Poppy has had a passion for the ocean from a young age and, inspired by the work of Tangaroa Blue and the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warrior program, she started her own monthly beach clean-up in November 2017.
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Tangaroa Blue Ambassador - Elijah Richardson

Elijah Richardson

Ambassador

Elijah first went snorkelling when he was around five years old. It was then that he first saw the beauty of the underwater world. He also realised how litter and marine debris could impact the Great Barrier Reef and marine life.
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MAKE A Difference

Volunteer today

info@tangaroablue.org

PO Box 1235 Dunsborough, WA 6281

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TOM GODFREY

Director
A proven media and public relations professional, Tom has extensive international experience with both public companies and not-for-profit organisations. He has worked on major environmental and consumer campaigns, product launches, events, corporate branding and positioning. Tom has a strong track record providing media and public relations support, acting as company spokesperson, managing media and working with a range of stakeholders. He is also a high profile media commentator with regular appearances on TV and radio programs across Australia. Tom has an extensive network across Australia, Asia, North America and Europe at board and senior management level. He also holds a Masters in Communication Management and an Honours Degree in History and Economics. Tom has held senior media and communications roles with the consumer group CHOICE, the British Standards Institution (“BSI”), Standards Australia, SAI Global (ASX: SAI) and is the Owner and Managing Director of Bell George Communications and BG Mobile Apps. Tom is currently Managing Director of Bell George Communications and a non-executive director at Good Environmental Choice.
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Dr. Lyndon Walker

Director/Treasurer

Lyndon is a highly experienced academic and advisor with extensive experience as a member and chair of academic and commercial boards and committees, including start-up advisory boards, academic programme committees, and institutional academic boards. He has qualifications in education, finance, statistics and sociology, including a PhD in Statistics and Sociology, and is on TEQSA’s register of experts for statistics, data science and finance. He is passionate about saving the environment and has previously been involved in a range of social and environmental causes through Rotaract and several animal protection groups.

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Marc Jacobson

Director

Marc is an experienced finance executive, who is currently the CFO of a leading transport and logistics business in Australia. He has worked across a number of industries including retail, investment banking and industrial services. He is a Chartered Accountant (ICAA), with a Masters in Applied Finance from Macquarie University. Marc is passionate about the environment and the conservation of Australia’s oceans and beaches. His love for the ocean and marine biology started at a young age in Cape Town, where he saw the impact & damage of marine debris on local penguin colonies. He hopes to continue to have a positive impact and make improvements to the natural environment for current and future generations.

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SHOANNE LABOWITCH

Director
A passionate environment and sustainability specialist, Shoanne is driven to improve on environmental and sustainability outcomes at the local, regional and global level.

Inherent in Shoanne’s current and previous roles was the need to be self-driven, and motivated. A vital component of those roles has required constant consultation and communication with stakeholders at all levels including internal and external stakeholders and regulatory authorities. Reporting, investigating and negotiating with regulatory authorities is also a key component of current and previous roles along with the coordination and delivery of internal monitoring, review, auditing and incident investigation.
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HEIDI TAIT

Managing Director and Co-Founder
Heidi’s love for the ocean comes from 20 years as a scuba diving instructor. In 2004 Heidi co-founded the Tangaroa Blue Foundation and the Australian Marine Debris Initiative as a way of not only removing the ever-increasing loads of rubbish in our oceans, but more importantly finding ways that prevented marine debris from being released in the first place. Her mantra is “if all we do is clean-up, that’s all we’ll ever do”. Heidi has been sitting on the Board of Directors since the organisation started in 2004 and is contracted outside of her role on the Board to oversee the administration and day to day operations of the organisation as well as assist in strategic direction and partnerships. Heidi was named one of the “18 Most Influential Women in Ocean Conservation” in the July 2018 edition of Ocean Geographic.
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Bernadette Davis (aka Flea)

Bernadette’s passion for protecting the ocean comes from a lifetime of living close to the sea, exploring our coastline and searching out her favourite surf breaks. With over 20 years of experience in environmental education with Local Government, she lives on the south coast of NSW where she works as an environmental officer with AMDI Partner, Eurobodalla Shire Council.

Alongside that, Bernadette co-founded ‘Ekipa Tasi Mos Atauro‘ in Timor Leste where she travels to the island regularly to continue her work there. She also designs the most exquisite baskets and lampshades that are handwoven from rope recovered from all her clean-ups (view Castaway Textiles Instagram page). Bernadette says, “I’ve been a long-time textile tinkerer, so it was a natural progression to use marine debris to assist in raising the issue of threats to our oceans.”

Owen Harris

Owen is a very passionate young Wildlife Warrior. He might only be eight years old but he sure packs huge passion and dedication into that little human. He loves everything to do with wildlife and he wants to do all he can to help protect them. He says “Wildlife can’t protect themselves so we need to protect them”.

For Owen, everything is an adventure, so he decided he wanted to start ‘Owen’s Wildlife Adventures‘ to try and share his passion and hopefully inspire others to follow suit and help him make a difference. While Owen was happy to spread the message he soon realised he wanted to have even more impact and decided to start his very own kid’s environmental group. This was the start of the Cap Coast Eco Warriors, a kids environmental group aiming to give kids a voice and give them the opportunity to learn all about the various different aspects of conservation and what they can do to make a difference.

Owen believes everyone can make a difference no matter how small and he is showing us all that there are no limits and that even the littlest ones amongst us can help.

Owen collects a lot of rubbish and also records the information in the AMDI Database so that he can contribute to stopping this whole issue at the source. Owen is very proud to be part of the Tangaroa Blue and ReefClean crew. He wants his kids to be able to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef and see fish, sharks and turtles and not just plastic floating around. So on all trips away, every walk on the beach, Owen picks up rubbish. Seeing all the marine debris on a recent Cape York trip made him realise even more just how urgently we need to stop polluting this planet.

In his spare time, he loves nothing more than saving sea turtles.

Poppy Ives

Poppy has had a passion for the ocean from a young age and, inspired by the work of Tangaroa Blue and the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warrior program, she started her own monthly beach clean-up in November 2017. Calling the group Visionary Ocean Warriors, a spin-off from the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warrior program, Poppy’s focus was removing marine debris and in turn protecting endangered marine life.

Since the group’s inception in late 2017 Poppy has shown her commitment to the cause by monitoring the chosen site at Golden Beach on the Sunshine Coast, each month, engaging volunteers, and collating the debris into the Australian Marine Debris Initiative. To date, she has entered 11,000 pieces of debris, totaling 183 kilos, and engaging 288 volunteers, with the help and commitment of friends and participants of the beach clean-ups.

Poppy spreads the message for refusing single-use plastic and protecting the oceans with fundraising efforts, producing hand-printed ‘Plastic Free Sea’ t-shirts and handmade bracelets, using the monies from the sales to fundraise for Tangaroa Blue.

From a young age, Poppy always loved swimming, and spent many years competitively swimming in her region, and spending time at the beach. Poppy aspires to become a marine biologist, stating “I am interested in the ocean because it hasn’t been totally discovered, it’s pretty cool with all the creatures living in it, especially sharks.”

Elijah Richardson

Elijah first went snorkelling when he was around five years old. It was then that he first saw the beauty of the underwater world. He also realised how litter and marine debris could impact the Great Barrier Reef and marine life.

Since then, Elijah has been attending clean ups and organising his own to help reduce the impact of marine debris.

In an effort to spread his message to clean up marine debris, Elijah has also given talks to local youth groups and attended stands at local community events to encourage others to play their part in looking after the ocean and its marine life.

Elijah is passionate about his role as a Tangaroa Blue ambassador and is clear in his aims: clean up as much as he can, encourage other people to clean up and to reduce their use of plastics.

He is promoting his actions on Instagram and Facebook, and taking opportunities to share his message through other social media pages, local radio, and newspapers to encourage everyone to play their part in protecting our natural world.