Meet Ocean Born Foundation’s amazing ambassadors
Meet Ocean Born Foundation’s Ambassadors: people who live for the ocean.
The ocean connects us all, but for some people that connection runs especially deep. Our ambassadors are divers, scientists, photographers, sailors, conservationists and ocean storytellers who have built their lives around the sea. Each brings a different perspective and story, but they share the same belief: that the ocean needs more people who know it well and are willing to speak up for it.
We are proud and grateful to have this growing community of ocean advocates alongside us at Ocean Born Foundation, who support us on a purely voluntary basis, out of a shared love for the ocean. Each of them helps us bring the ocean closer to more people and inspire action to protect it.
Vetea Liao
Vetea is a Tahitian marine biologist and underwater photographer. In 2021 he founded Tama nō te Tairoto (Children of the Lagoon), a Polynesian non-profit that has since coordinated the largest citizen-led observation of coral spawning ever recorded, with observers across the Pacific and Indian Oceans documenting the reproduction of Porites rus coral.
His work draws on his Polynesian heritage while contributing directly to international marine science, and has already reshaped how researchers understand coral reproduction on reefs around the world. For Vetea, exploring the ocean and protecting it are inseparable.
Chrissie van Royen
Chrissie has built her life around the sea: as a skipper, surfer and water rescue volunteer, as well as the co-founder of BÄMboats, a media studio created for people who live and work on the water.
With a sharp eye for storytelling and design, Chrissie uses her creative work to capture what life connected to the ocean actually looks like. Her stories go beyond aesthetics: they are about the community that forms around the water and the responsibility that comes with spending time on it. Through her lens and her time on the water, she gives people concrete reasons to care about the ocean.
Michelle Whalley
Michelle was a passionate supporter of Ocean Born Foundation long before officially becoming one of our ambassadors. Through her organisation Ocean Angel, she has become a central figure in the local ocean conservation community in the Canary Islands.
Ocean Angel won our community vote for local project funding, and since then Michelle has continued to support our work, share our mission and help us connect with people across the islands who care deeply about the ocean. Her approach is rooted in community and grounded action: for her, protecting the ocean happens locally, through people coming together and taking practical steps close to home.
Fabrice Jaine
Fabrice is a marine scientist based in Australia, specialising in sharks, rays and other marine megafauna. He works with Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), where he has led the Animal Tracking Facility, and has spent years studying manta and devil ray populations in Australian waters and around the world.
Much of his research feeds directly into conservation, giving policymakers and scientists the data they need to protect threatened species as fisheries and climate change reshape ocean ecosystems.
Jan Poguntke
Jan has built a life around sailing and the ocean: a regatta sailor since childhood, he created The Bearded Sailor, a channel dedicated to sailing life, from his native Germany to sailing spots across Europe.
Through his work with sailing brands and events, Jan helps bring greater visibility to ocean culture and to the stories of the people who spend their lives on the water. For him, the ocean is a place to live in, work on and take responsibility for.
Katy Schweigler
Katy Schweigler is a passionate diver and underwater photographer with a particular talent for capturing the smaller, often overlooked side of the marine world through macrophotography.
Her work invites people to slow down and look closer. Beneath the surface is an entire world of tiny creatures, intricate ecosystems and details that can easily go unnoticed. By sharing these moments, Katy shows just how much there is to discover beneath the waves, and how much would be lost if we stopped paying attention.
The Argonauts Collective
The Argonauts Collective is a French collective bringing together people and organisations working to protect the ocean, runned with passion by Arthur, Remi and Salvator. Named after Jason and the Argonauts of Greek myth, it is built around a shared mission: uniting ocean actors and experts behind the protection of what they call our blue planet.
Through storytelling, they aim to amplify the impact of people and organisations already active on ocean issues, and to help shape a more sustainable relationship between people and the sea.
Matthias Kopp
Matthias Kopp is the only one of our ambassadors who came to us through beer rather than the ocean, and we're very glad he did! Based in Germany, he is a beer sommelier and international beer judge, judging at major competitions, including the World Beer Cup, and writing on beer culture as a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers. His work with breweries stretches across a wide range of markets, from Germany and Switzerland to Mexico, Brazil and the US.
For Matthias, beer is a cultural product that connects local traditions with global audiences. That perspective is what he brings to Ocean Beer, along with a deep understanding of what makes a good beer and a clear sense of where an initiative like ours fits within the wider brewing world.
One ocean, many stories
Our ambassadors come from very different backgrounds and bring different experiences to the ocean, but they all share the same drive: a real attachment to the ocean and a determination to protect it. Together, they help us reach more people, help them understand what is at stake, and get involved in protecting the ocean.
To all of them: THANK YOU.