Board of Directors
Todd Steiner
Todd Steiner is an ecologist and the founder and executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network, an ocean advocacy and research NGO with offices in California, Texas and Hawaii.
Gail Yamamoto Seymour
Gail Yamamoto Seymour is an environmental scientist with a long and outstanding career in natural resource conservation for the State of California, most recently as California Department of Fish and Wildlife Senior Environmental Supervisor for Watershed Restoration and the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program in the nine county San Francisco Bay Area. In 2018 she retired from State government service.
Randall Arauz
Randall Arauz is a leading voice for marine wildlife conservation in Latin America. He served as Turtle Island Restoration Network’s Central American Director from 1997 to 2007 and founded TIRN’s sister organization in Costa Rica PRETOMA and later CREMA, and is a co-founder of MigraMar. He is currently the International Policy Director for Fins Attached. He has a BS in Biology and is currently a PhD. Candidate.
Deb Castellana
Deb Castellana is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Sylvia Earle Alliance / Mission Blue, where she is responsible for strategic planning and forming new alliance relationships to generate cooperative programs and projects to increase ocean conservation.
Teri Shore
Environmentalist Teri Shore has championed winning campaigns to protect the natural world for more than two decades.
Carole Allen
Carole Allen is the founder and director of Help Endangered Animals - Ridley Turtles (HEART).
Staff
Todd Steiner
Todd Steiner is an ecologist and the founder and executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network, an ocean advocacy and research NGO with offices in California, Texas and Hawaii.
Preston Brown
Preston's work is focused on developing and facilitating stream restoration projects and administrating salmonid population monitoring programs.
Joanie Steinhaus
Joanie Steinhaus attended Houston Community College in Houston Texas studying Animal Health Management and Veterinary Technology.
Audrey Fusco
Audrey focuses on utilizing native plants to enhance habitat for wildlife and works with all aspects of revegetation of SPAWN’s riparian restoration projects.
Ayano Hayes
Ayano strives to protect and restore the natural environment through action, education, and connection.
Deborah Dillard
Deborah has lived in Texas all her life, and is passionate about ocean conservation and protecting endangered species.
Morgan Huette
Morgan grew up living in northern Texas but always knew that the ocean was where she belonged. Her strong passion for ocean conservation and education grew during her time working and volunteering with numerous non-profit organizations.
Jess Holland
Jess Holland is an ethical and experienced philanthropic fundraising professional including her work with Habitat for Humanity in both Sugar Land and Houston, TX. Her passions include attending athletic events, traveling, and experiencing new cultures. She has a B.S. in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Mgmt from Penn State University, and an M.S. in Administration from Central Michigan University. She resides with her husband, two children, and farm animals on a their small homestead in Texas.
Interns
Elizabeth Purcell
Elizabeth is currently studying environmental science with an aquatic biology tract.
Brittany McWhorter
Brittany McWhorter is a wildlife enthusiast from LaPorte, TX who loves all things related to coastal ecology! She is so excited to be interning with the Turtle Island Restoration Network with like minded individuals with the goal of preserving the gulf!
Alicia Arroyo
Alicia Arroyo is currently pursuing a degree in Marine Biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston. She has always been a fanatic of the ocean's many curiosities from microorganisms to macroorganisms, with hopes to continuously learn more from these organisms and help to preserve them and their home.
Cameron Noren
Cameron is originally from Sebastopol, California, just up the coast from SPAWN's Marin County headquarters.
Nyna Hong
Nyna Hong graduated from California State University, Chico in
Environmental Science. Nyna grew up in Sacramento, CA and enjoys
traveling and surfing. She hopes to gain in depth experience in habitat
restoration and become familiar with the locally native flora and fauna.
Science and Policy Advisory Board
César Peñaherrera, Ph.D
César Peñaherrera is an Ecuadorian Marine Biologist specialized in Quantitative Marine Science (QMS) and currently serves as the Academic Director at Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador – Manabí.
Myra Finkelstein, Ph.D
Myra Finkelstein is a David H. Smith Conservation Fellow at the University of California Santa Cruz whose research focuses on human impacts on marine ecosystems.
Kevin Weng, Ph.D
Kevin Weng is an Associate Professor at College of William & Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science where he studies the impact of fisheries on sharks and other marine species.
Kerstin Forsberg
Kerstin Forsberg is the Founder and Director of Planeta Océano, a growing marine conservation non-profit based in Lima, Peru.
Jonathan R. Green
Jonathan R. Green is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London as well as a notable photographer.
Wallace J. Nichols, Ph.D
Wallace J. Nichols is a Research Associate at California Academy of Sciences and founder/co-director of Ocean Revolution, an international network of young ocean advocates and author nearly 100 publications on ocean ecology
William Loftus, Ph.D
William Loftus is the President of Aquatic Research & Communication, LLC, which involves different institutions and agencies to restore fish communities via sampling techniques and communication of scientific issues
George Shillinger, Ph.D
George Shillinger is the Executive Director of Upwell. He has worked in environmental conservation since 1986.
Boris Worm, Ph.D
Boris Worm is a Biology Professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is a Marine Research Ecologist whose lab includes students and postdoctoral fellows studying the causes, consequences of change, and conservation of marine biodiversity.
Mark Stabb, Ph.D
Mark Stabb is a professional engineer, small business owner, environmental conservationist and long time scuba divemaster.
Mariano Castro
Mariano Castro is a Costa Rican lawyer with an LLM in public international law from Leiden University, and current candidate for a Mphil in Conservation Leadership in Cambridge University.
Elpis Joan Chávez
Elpis Joan Chávez is a wildlife biologist whose work focuses on shark ecology. She has worked as a research coordinator and scientific consultant for organizations from Mexico, Costa Rica, and USA, including Turtle Island Restoration Network.
Dr. Alex Hearn
Dr. Alex Hearn is Turtle Island’s Ecuador Representative. Previously he worked as Turtle Island as Director of Conservation Science in early 2013. Previously, he worked at the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galapagos Islands (2002-8) and was Project Scientist in the Dept. of Wildlife Fish & Conservation Biology at UC Davis (2008-13).