Aeon understood from a young age that living far inland doesn't make you independent from the world's waters. Knowing this, he took every chance got to further explore his curiosity about the interconnectedness of life on Earth. He sought not only to learn just how much the ocean impacts people who don't live near it, but how those people impact the ocean in return.
This curiosity has taken him on multiple whale-watching tours, to beach clean-ups, and to marine conservation meetings. As his parents, we learned right along with Aeon, and we've remained truly amazed by life under the sea and how critical a role humans have in regards to its health. That said, we supported Aeon when he felt compelled to share his discoveries with family, friends, and peers. He's since been giving presentations at various schools about whales, dolphins, sharks, endangered marine species, and sustainable seafood. These presentations have become a critical component of Aeon for Ocean's mission.
Growing up on the coast, she realized that she – like many of us – was unwittingly part of the problem, so she strongly believes it's time to give back and strives to be a part of the solution by raising awareness to protect the oceans. The knowledge she has gained over the last several years has left her amazed at how wonderful the ocean and its creatures are, as well as the importance of healthy marine ecosystems and the critical role humans play towards its conservatio.
She is a computer engineer and has been in various roles in IT industry. She has been volunteering at Save the Water™ managing technology team and in local schools through various educational programs.
He has been professionally and personally involved in various aspects of business development & technology for years and has a passion for STEM education. He continues learning about marine life & ecosystems and has been studying about marine habitats and ocean conservation for the past several years, firmly believing "it is about knowing and recognizing that we are part of everything, and everything is a part of us - We are One"
Scott studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Washington, which is also where he began his career as a teacher and course designer. After receiving two Masters degrees and publishing work in over twenty literary journals, Scott started looking for ways to bring creative course design to populations in need.
Scott has designed over three-dozen educational curricula for adolescents and adults working through mental health, behavioral health, and substance-use issues. Other instructor positions of his have included everything from startup tech companies to competitive gymnastics.
Growing up in Seattle, Scott loved learning about Washington’s coastal ecosystems. He is eager to find creative, engaging ways to bring this kind of education to children of all ages.
She is currently working as a Pro Bono HR professional with Save The Water™. She strongly believes that there is nothing that people need in their lives more than water. "Save Water, Save Life"!
Grace Hertzler is a writer whose work strives to meet the values of eco-literacy. After graduating with a degree in English and Creative Writing, she moved to California to complete projects in the film industry while supporting ocean conservation efforts. She currently lives in North Dakota as a freelance grant writer with a specialty in environmental preservation.
Max is a recent college graduate who has worked in education as an elementary school paraprofessional and behavioral specialist. However, his true passion is writing. He’s worked as a freelance writer in his spare time, writing blogs, articles and stories that have been published online and in print.
Although, Max has never lived near an ocean, he did live only blocks away from Lake Superior while receiving his bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Minnesota - Duluth. Living next to the world’s largest freshwater lake, Max always felt as if he were living on the coast of a great ocean.
His love for Superior led to a job as a staff blogger for the University of Wisconsin - Sea Grant Institute, communicating environmental topics pertaining to Lake Superior and it’s surrounding tributaries. Through the Institute, Max found out first hand the result climate change and human impact has had on our world’s oceans and waterways.
It has inspired him to communicate to the public through the written word the scientific truths about the impact we have on our environment and ways we can fix it.
Ashley is an engineer by training who enjoys bringing science and technologies to audiences of all ages. After earning her degree in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, Ashley began a career in the healthcare technology field, holding a variety of positions spanning clinical research, interoperative clinical support, quality and process improvement, and research and development. In her current position, Ashley serves as a project manager in the R&D department of a surgical robotics start-up, working towards bringing the next generation of minimally-invasive surgery to patients. Ashley was born and raised in Massachusetts and currently resides there with her husband and two young children. She strives to be a continuous learner and aims to bring the spirit of curiosity to all of her work.
Lavanya is a result-oriented Analytics Professional with 6 years of experience majorly in procurement. Driven with passion towards analytics she acquired expertise in Business intelligence, Market research, Spend analytics, Cost modeling, Reports automation and Data visualization dashboards. Her analytic skills had proven success in empowering business decisions through data and insights.
She strongly believes in giving back to the society and making a difference. She was an organizing member of social responsibility club 'Prayatna' during her masters and organized several events like stem cell donation awareness camps and blood donation camps. She also ideated and executed a program 'Swar - Be the voice' which provided audio books that replace text books for a blind school in Udaipur, India. She also manually transcripted story books from English to Braille.
She earned Master's in Business Administration from Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, India, and Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India.
Nadini has completed her Bachelor in Finance from Iowa State University and has 10 years of experience in Accounting. She enjoys her my daily tasks and hence eager to learn more outside of her department. She likes meeting people with various backgrounds and seeing how all can come together achieving the same end-goal. With this interest, she has joined the HR team and looking forward to a learning opportunity. In free time, she enjoys love to travel, particularly to the island beaches and exploring all that it has to offer.
She has completed MFA at SCAD in Illustration, BFA in Art Education at UNC-Greensboro. She has 4+ years of experience in teaching high school visual art, 2 years of stationary production, freelance illustrator. She is currently involved in freelance projects and in free time, she enjoys researching 19th-century writing fiction, creating artwork, gardening, collecting art supplies and small figures, playing with my pet ferrets!
Growing up with both the Mediterranean and Atlantic nearby, Eva has always felt an emotional connection to our splendid bodies of water.
She is working as an Illustrator/Designer for the Climate Program Office of NOAA under the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Division and also have been working with the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos on ocean conservation. Carlyn has over 20 years of experience in scientific/medical illustration, 3-D illustration and animation, Video, ZBrush modeling, 3-D diorama design and fabrication.
Carlyn has held a wide range of freelance contracts for organizations such as the Minnesota Zoological Gardens creating illustration work for several major new exhibits, illustrations of tropical insects for a traveling exhibit designed by Outhouse Exhibits Design firm, wild orchid models for Maltbie Design firm, and for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources developing over 200 illustrations for the state-wide school curriculum package called MNAqua. This award winning curriculum and art package brings the freshwater ecology of Minnesota directly to the students of the state to increase awareness of water as a valuable and intrinsic resource in Minnesota's environment and it's value to people.
She has also worked with Taser International, Kongsberg Submarines, and institutions such as the National Institute of Health, the University of Vermont, National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions. One of her most recent project was designing of exhibits for the Charles Darwin Exhibition Hall in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, which opened in June 2016.