OUR TEAM.
VISIONARIES.
EXPERTS.
PROTECTORS.
Meet our team of dedicated ocean ambassadors, working in marine megafauna hotspots around the world to save ocean giants from extinction.
Executive Team

DR SIMON PIERCE
Founder & Executive Director
Read BioDr. Pierce founded MMF’s flagship Global Whale Shark Program. His work on the population ecology and management of this iconic species has made him the world’s top whale shark conservation biologist. Simon led the research team whose efforts resulted in whale sharks being recognized as globally endangered on the IUCN Red List, led the technical proposal that successfully listed whale sharks as globally protected via the UN Convention on Migratory Species, and led the IUCN Green Status assessment of the species. Simon is a scientific advisor to the global shark photo-identification database and a member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group.

SARAH BUTCHERS
Chief Operating Officer
Read BioSarah has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting). She joined MMF in January 2018 with over 8 years experience working in Finance, including 6 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Sydney. Sarah is based in Tofo, Mozambique, where she manages MMF's main office, as well as overseeing the organization's global finances and operations.

DR ANDREA MARSHALL
Founder
Read BioDr. Marshall was the first person in the world to complete a PhD on manta rays. After her thesis, she stayed in Mozambique to spearhead the conservation of manta rays in the region and around the world. She is the lead author of the IUCN’s Red List assessments for both species of manta rays and a member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. Andrea featured in the BBC Natural World documentary ‘Andrea: Queen of Mantas’ as well as the broadcaster’s award-winning trilogy ‘Sharks.’ In 2013, she was inducted into the ranks of National Geographic’s Explorers as an Emerging Explorer in recognition of her efforts to protect these threatened rays.
Dr. Marshall is currently on extended medical leave following a severe brain aneurysm and stroke that occurred in early 2024. Her pioneering research and conservation initiatives continue to guide our work.
Board of Directors

MARK HACKNEY
Chair of the Board

JOSHUA AXFORD
Board Member

JASON KATZ
Board Member

DR. SIMON PIERCE
Founder

STEFFEN BERGHOLZ
Board Member
Scientific Team

YATHIMA ORAIBO ABDUL
Research Fellow – Mozambique
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LISA AUDITORE
Project Scientist – Indonesia
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ED BEVAN
Project Scientist – Mozambique

EMMYLLEN BURINE
Research Fellow – Mozambique

NILZA DE CATARINA
Research Manager – Mozambique

DR. NAKIA CULLAIN
Senior Scientist
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EMILY EATON
Project Scientist – Mozambique

MARGO MOYER
Research Assistant & Education Coordinator – Florida

OLIVIA PATTERSON
Project Scientist – Mozambique
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JAMES PATTERSON
Field Specialist – Mozambique

JENS PAULSEN
Project Scientist – Tanzania
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DR. CLARE PREBBLE
Senior Scientist
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DR. CHRIS ROHNER
Principal Scientist
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SIMÃO SANDE
Reef Monitoring Program Manager – Mozambique
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ARIQ TRISARJONO
Project Scientist – Indonesia
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CALVIN MULIAWAN
Research Assistant – Indonesia
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BRYANT TURFFS
Biologist and Marine Operations – USA
Operations Team

JUSTINE MAE
MMF Expeditions

JOAQUIM GUILA
Office Manager

JUDISNEY MAURICIO
Finance Officer

ANINDYA RETNO PRAMESTI
Finance and Administration Officer
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BERNARDO SARMENTO MIGUEL
Driver/Team Assistant
Sustainable Seas — Mozambique Conservation Team
MARTINHO SAIDE PEDRO
Conservation Department Manager
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ELTON TIVANE
Junior Conservation Project Manager

JOAQUIM DOS SANTOS
Junior Conservation Project Manager

AVELINO CHAU
Ambassador Program Manager – Tofo
Ocean Guardians — Mozambique Education Team

AZEVEDO CHITSUMBA
Education Program Manager
Read BioCREMILDA SIMANGO
Education Officer

LUIS MACAMO
Junior Project Manager

NARCISO GOVE
Master Teacher & Swim Instructor

PEDRO GUIAMBA
Master Teacher & Swim Instructor

SIMONE CUMBE
Master Teacher & Swim Instructor

GINA ALFACE
Education & Conservation Officer

SÓNIA DE JESUS
Swimming Instructor

ÉRICA GULELE
Junior Education Officer
Advisors

BRENT WASHBURN
AI Strategy & Policy Advisor
lagoondigital.com ↗Brent Washburn is the founder of Lagoon Digital Marketing, a boutique marketing agency in Melbourne Beach, Florida, that helps organizations connect their purpose with their audience using digital channels. He advises MMF on AI strategy and policy.

ANNE PAYLOR
Communications Advisor
Anne Paylor is a journalist and editor with four decades in travel and aviation publishing. She began as a reporter in Bahrain and Hong Kong, edited Cathay Pacific's Cathay News and Jane's Airport Review, and spent 25 years as a freelance correspondent for Air Transport World and other specialist titles. A pilot, diver, and underwater photographer who has traveled and lived across the Indian Ocean rim, she now volunteers her writing and editing to MMF's features, partner stories, and supporter communications.

MADELEINE PIERCE
Digital Operations & AI Advisor
Madeleine leads MMF's operational infrastructure, building AI-powered workflows and systems that minimize administrative overhead and maximize funding directed toward research and conservation. She's guiding MMF through the rapidly evolving AI landscape, ensuring the organization stays at the leading edge of how technology can serve conservation. With a background in product design, project management, and tech entrepreneurship, she brings a commercial lens to nonprofit operations, helping MMF scale across multiple countries without scaling costs.

CHRISTINA PATE
Social Media & Digital Strategy Advisor
Christina Pate holds a B.S. in Marketing and Statistics and spent 10 years as a market research analyst specializing in digital channels, using consumer data and insights to guide business strategy. She now owns and operates content creation businesses focused on travel content and social media growth. She advises MMF on social media and digital strategy.
MMF Ambassadors

TIFFANY SCHAUER
Founder & Executive Director, Our Children’s Earth Foundation
Tiffany founded OCE in 1998 after many years in various environmental justice and litigation positions specializing in enforcement and compliance. In addition to her private sector attorney experience with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, which represented industry in environmental litigation, she was appointed to the Hearing Board of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). Prior to her work in the Bay Area, Tiffany worked at the Federal Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC in a variety of key roles. She earned her J.D. from Catholic University in Washington, DC. and her B.A. from San Diego State University. Tiffany is admitted to the State Bars of California, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.
Tiffany served in various environmental regulatory roles prior to founding OCE in 1998. Ms. Schauer’s varied positions, including serving as an enforcement attorney at the Environmental Protection Agency, working as a Senior Attorney at a major environmental law firm, and adjudicating Clean Air Act permit disputes at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Hearing Board. During the course of her career, she discovered that the attacks on environmental regulatory standards and enforcement program funding decisions are not occurring in statehouses and legislative sessions, where the glare of public attention would be too great. Instead, the attacks most often occur in bureaucratic back rooms, out of the public eye, in obscure government departments where polluting industries can influence the decision-making process without risking the wrath of public opposition. The form of the threat is as basic as it is destructive — our environmental laws simply are not being enforced adequately to ensure public safety and basic environmental protections. Since 1998, Tiffany has led OCE to enforce some of the largest environmental law violation actions in the United States.
Over the past 10 years, Tiffany has expanded OCE’s efforts beyond regulatory citizen enforcement to include communicating the issues of government corruption, abuse of power, and needed transparency by addressing these issues in documentary film. Tiffany spearheaded the initiative to bring OCE’s message to the storytelling genre of film through collaborating on many breakthrough documentaries including, Total Denial, Garbage Dreams, Island President, The C Word, Death by Design, How to Change the World, Sempre Fi, Last Animals, and Youth v. Gov.
“Our earth’s marine species and marine habitat areas are critically important, and extremely fragile. MMF’s relentless research, breakthrough peer-reviewed publications, community advocacy, and international coordination, have been critical in establishing the baseline science needed to safeguard our marine giants and the last truly wild places in our oceans. I see MMF as one of the world’s most fearless, effective and financially efficient marine science organizations of our time.”

MARC GIRARD
Former MMF Board Member
Marc was born and raised in Geneva, Switzerland. He studied finance at the University of Geneva and worked in banking for 13 years before he became an independent portfolio manager in 2000. His first diving experience was in 1971 and from that moment he was hooked on the marine environment. Marc regularly travels and dives with his family around the world.
“I first met Andrea and learned about MMF in 2014 during a diving trip in Mozambique. Instantly convinced by their mission and values, I was impressed by the professionalism with which Andrea leads her team. Sharing further diving experiences with Andrea, I could witness the contagious passion she shows in every minute of her MMF life. This passion combined with the effort she invests in educating the different communities around her makes me confident that the creatures we love are under good protection.”









