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.
Donna Howe
Donna Howe is an environmental conservationist, community volunteer, and avid scuba diver.
Brendan Cummings
Brendan Cummings is Senior Counsel, Strategic Litigation Group Director and founder of the Ocean Program at the Center for Biological Diversity, where he has worked since 1988.
Barbara D. Andrews
Barbara D. Andrews is a passionate advocate for ocean conservation. She is the legal manager for the California Academy of Sciences.
Carole Allen
Carole Allen is the founder and director of Help Endangered Animals - Ridley Turtles (HEART) and manages Turtle Island Restoration Network’s Gulf Office.
Dr. Alex Hearn
Dr. Alex Hearn joined Turtle Island as Director of Conservation Science in early 2013, and now serves on our Board of Directors.
Deborah Sivas
Deborah (Debbie) Sivas is a leading environmental litigator and director of the highly regarded Stanford Environmental Law Clinic who balances her practice of law with an MS in Ecology.
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.
Scott Artis
Scott Artis joined the Turtle Island Restoration Network staff in 2018 and brings more than a decade’s worth of experience spanning for-profit and nonprofit sectors in wildlife conservation, habitat protection, biotech, management and fundraising.
Preston Brown
Preston Brown is a watershed biologist and project manager with Turtle Island Restoration Network's Salmon Protection And Watershed Network (SPAWN).
Joanie Steinhaus
Joanie Steinhaus attended Houston Community College in Houston Texas studying Animal Health Management and Veterinary Technology.
Audrey Fusco
Audrey is the manager of the SPAWN native plant nursery and an enthusiastic supporter of ecological restoration.
Theresa Morris
Theresa Morris is the nest patrol volunteer coordinator for the Upper Texas Coast Sea Turtle Patrol.
Callie Veelenturf
Callie is a marine biologist that has been working with sea turtles nesting in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa.
Stepph Sharpe
Stepph Sharpe is the Development Associate at Turtle Island Restoration Network.
Bolt Seymour
Bolt Seymour is a habitat restoration technician with Turtle Island Restoration Network’s SPAWN program, directly supporting the planning, designing, implementation and monitoring of riparian restoration projects.
William Now
In his late teens William Now was a scuba diving fanatic, with dreams of living his life as if he were Jacques Cousteau.
Interns
Paige Breon
Paige is an undergraduate at Texas A&M Galveston pursing a degree in Marine Biology with a strong passion for sea turtle and environmental conservation.
Kristina Boburka
Kristina Boburka joins our Texas office from Pittsburgh, PA. She is currently pursuing her Master's degree in marine biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston.
Charlie Startin
Charlie is very excited to be an intern at SPAWN so that she can continue learning and actively participate in habitat restoration.
Science Advisors
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.
Frank Paladino, Ph.D.
Frank Paladino, Ph.D. is the Biology Department Chair and Professor at Indiana University- Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Myra Finkelstein, Ph.D.
Dr. 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.
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
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.
Dr. 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.
Dr. George Shillinger is the Executive Director of The Leatherback Trust. He has worked in environmental conservation since 1986.
Boris Worm, Ph.D.
Dr. 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.
