Fabien Cousteau (Explorer; film-maker). Fabien Cousteau, third generation explorer, environmental activist and documentary film producer, is the founder and director of Plant A Fish, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring our water planet and educating youth about the importance of conservation and restoration. At any time, Fabien can be found in the far corners of the earth speaking at conferences, planting oysters or sharing his wisdom with all those that can make a difference. Fabien plays a key role in the PBS series, Ocean Adventures, interviewing experts, assisting production and diving with the crew. Fabien lives in New York City, serves on the boards of the New York Harbor School and the Water Innovations Alliance and acts as an advisor to Seakeepers and the Plastic Pollution Coalition.

David de Rothschild (Explorer). David de Rothschild is a British adventurer and head of Adventure Ecology, an expedition group raising awareness about climate change. He was awarded the accolade of “Emerging Explorer” by National Geographic, was appointed an “international ambassador” by NGO Clean Up The World, and nominated as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum. In March 2010 de Rothschild and a crew of 5 began an expedition to sail across the Pacific on a catamaran partially made from reclaimed post-consumer plastic bottles called the Plastiki, which successfully completed its journey to Sydney on the 26th of July, 2010.

Sylvia Earle, Ph.D. (Science Advisors) Sylvia Earle is an American oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer. She was chief scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1990-1992. In 1992, Earle founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research to further advance marine engineering. Today Earle serves as Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society and the company known as DOER Marine is run by her daughter. In 2010, Sylvia founded Mission Blue and is currently Chairman and CEO of Sylvia Earle Alliance, her foundation. Mission Blue is a multi-year global initiative founded by TED, the National Geographic, the Waitt Foundation and SEAlliance with many partners committed to inspiring people to care and act to restore the ocean’s health and productivity by reducing the impact of fishing and creating marine protected areas — hope spots.

Marcus Eriksen, Ph.D. (Science Advisors; Founding Member) Dr. Eriksen is an advocate for ocean conservation, as the Director of Project Development for the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. In 2006, he won the H. David Nahai Water Quality Award in Education for his conservation work with inner-city students; in 2008, he won the Menzie Education Award from the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry for marine education. Recently, Marcus co-founded “5 Gyres Institute”, to study and communicate plastic pollution in the 5 large ocean gyres in the world. Marcus was elected a National Fellow of the Explorers Club in 2010.

Plant a Fish (Environmental, Civil Society) A nonprofit, headquartered in New York City, by third-generation ocean explorer and environmental advocate, Fabien Cousteau, whose mission is to empower communities to become involved with responsible 're-planting' of key marine species in their local habitats in distressed bodies of water around the world. Initial targeted projects in 2010-2011 included responsible re-planting of oysters in New York Harbor, sea turtles in El Salvador, mangroves in South Florida, corals in the Maldives.

Tierney Thys, Ph.D. (Science Advisors) Marine Biologist, National Geographic Emerging Explorer