We come from a variety of backgrounds and countries, yet we share a common love for the ocean and a passionate dedication to saving coral reefs. Call us at (415) 834-0900 or stop by the office to say hello. We love to talk about our work and we welcome the chance to share our inspiration with you.
San Francisco Staff
Dr. Michael Webster, Executive Director (ext. 317)
An expert in the fields of coral reef science and conservation management, Michael earned a Ph.D. in coral reef fish ecology from Oregon State University. After graduate school, Michael joined the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) at Oregon State University, where he coordinated the scientific activities of a long-term ecosystem research and monitoring project focused on the ecology and oceanography of the California Current Ecosystem. Michael then joined the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, where he developed and managed a portfolio of more than $40 million in grants focused on the conservation, management, and scientific understanding of Pacific salmon ecosystems. He has worked with leaders at a wide array of conservation organizations, management agencies, and universities to identify and meet funding needs while developing strategic plans to increase the long-term effectiveness of conservation initiatives. Michael is a certified divemaster and has conducted coral reef field research in the Bahamas and Australia.
Rick MacPherson, Conservation Programs Director (ext. 302)
Rick is a marine biologist specializing in coral reef ecology and natural resource management. Following his academic preparation from Roger Williams University and Harvard University, Rick conducted fieldwork in coral reef destinations throughout the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean basin. He later served as lecturer and marine science specialist for the University of California, Berkeley, and was a founding investigator for the California Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE), an NSF-funded effort to improve ocean science education nationally. At U.C. Berkeley, Rick piloted an undergraduate and graduate course, Communicating Ocean Science, which is now taught at more than twenty universities nationwide. He has also served as a consultant to the U.S. National Marine Sanctuary system.
Rick has published extensively on topics related to ocean science, coral reef ecology, and marine conservation, and is a frequent guest speaker at international marine conservation symposiums and meetings. He has also led efforts to utilize emerging online and social media to promote broader public understanding of ocean science and conservation. In addition to his professional presence on Twitter and Facebook [3], he is a regular contributor to the marine science blog Deep Sea News [4]. Rick has logged more than 1,500 dive hours at sites across the world.
Sarah Freiermuth, Director of Development (ext. 305)
Sarah began working in ocean conservation in 1995 as an educator at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Following that, she became part of the education staff at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in San Diego. She moved north to join the development staff at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where she helped to grow the membership program by nearly 50 percent. Most recently, Sarah worked in development at the San Francisco Zoo. Feeling the pull of the oceans once again, Sarah joined CORAL in March of 2009. She has a degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is a certified scuba diver and active community volunteer.
Jason Vasques, Assistant Director of Conservation Programs
(ext. 303)
Jason has fifteen years of field experience as a researcher and resource manager in diverse locations, including New Zealand, Australia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and California. He joined CORAL after working for six years on the statewide MPA planning effort in California, where he oversaw scientific advisory teams tasked with providing technical guidance and evaluating proposed regional MPA networks. He also helped to develop monitoring plans for these MPA networks. Previously, Jason worked for several years as a fisheries biologist in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he developed a seafloor habitat mapping program and established ongoing collaborations with several U.S. federal and territorial partners. He also served as the U.S. Virgin Islands Reef Check coordinator and led multiple teams tracking changes in local coral reefs. An avid diver, Jason has logged more than 2000 dives during his career.
Kate Trevelyan-Hall, Conservation Grants Manager (ext. 315)
Kate joined the Development staff in July 2009, bringing with her more than three years of fundraising experience in the non-profit sector, along with four years of higher education development from her university days as a student caller. She graduated from Santa Clara University with degrees in Anthropology and Spanish, with a focus on International Relations, and has studied abroad in Spain, France, and Peru. Outside of her responsibilities at CORAL, Kate loves to travel, explore the outdoors, and volunteer in her community.
Susan Wolf, Communications Manager (ext. 319)
Susan manages CORAL's communications efforts. Most recently she worked as a senior media consultant, with a primary focus on raising public awareness around education issues. She spent several years working in the non-profit sector leading marketing and media efforts for a nationally focused public policy think tank. Prior to joining CORAL, Susan coordinated watershed youth education programs, conducted fresh water biological research for the United States Geological Survey in the Great Lakes region, and prepared environmental site assessment reports. Susan has a degree in environmental studies with a concentration in journalism from Ohio Wesleyan University.
Kristina Tan, Accountant (ext. 304)
Kristina joined CORAL in February 2011. Prior to starting her work as CORAL's accountant, she worked for many years in the finance department at Edgewood Center for Children and Families, a non-profit organization in San Francisco. Originally from Java Island in Indonesia, Kristina received her first bachelor's degree in accounting from Trisakti University in Jakarta, Indonesia, and then moved to San Francisco to obtain her second bachelor's degree in accounting at San Francisco State University.
Candace Leong, Conservation Programs Associate and Coral Reef CSI Coordinator (ext. 316)
Candace worked as a CORAL volunteer before joining the department as a full-time programs associate. Candace's acceptance into a travel-abroad program during her fourth year of college motivated her to become scuba certified and buy an underwater camera. As a student at the University of Queensland in Australia, Candace lived with a homestay family and went on field trips to terrestrial and marine parks. After the program ended, she traveled and dove in Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia's Great Barrier Reef. After college, she interned at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), where she participated in a four-day deep-sea expedition, rehabilitated sea otters, and became the youngest board member at Friends of the Sea Otter. Candace has participated in underwater beach clean-ups and volunteered as a docent and aquarist at the UC Santa Cruz Seymour Center. Candace graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a degree in marine biology.
Simone Sheridan, Membership Assistant (ext. 307)
Originally from Vancouver Island, Simone grew up enjoying ocean critters she found in tidal pools. Before joining CORAL in February 2010, she worked for eight years as an assistant in entomology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Simone has a BFA in painting from the Pratt Institute, and is now pursuing a degree in biology. She currently lives on a houseboat, which once again gives her an opportunity to enjoy sea critters close to home.
Malinda Shishido, Development Assistant (ext. 306)
A lifelong ocean lover, Malinda enjoys spending time at the coast and on the water, and volunteers annually in local coastal cleanup events. Malinda is a photographer and an outdoor enthusiast, and loves to travel. She graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with a degree in physical geography.
International Field Staff
Kenneth Johnson, Mesoamerican Regional Manager (Mexico)
As CORAL’s Mesoamerican Regional Manager (based in Mexico), Kenneth’s main focus is to advance the goals of the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN)’s Mesoamerican Reef Alliance (MAR) project, which involves the development of good environmental practices for marine recreation providers. In addition to his work with CORAL, Kenneth is owner and general manager of EcoColors, an ecotourism adventure company in the state of Quintana Roo that runs eco-educational, biking, kayaking, snorkeling, trekking, bird watching, and archaeological tours. A marine biologist with a master’s degree in business administration, Kenneth has several years of experience designing new ecotourism products and working with local communities, including Punta Allen and Muyil in Siankaan, Holbox, and Xcalak town to educate, develop, operate, and promote environmental interpretation and ecotourism ventures. He has served as both president and vice-president of the Mexican Association of Adventure Travel and Ecotourism, and his greatest passion is to share his love for wildlife conservation with others.
Naneng Setiasih, Coral Triangle Regional Manager (Indonesia)
A conservation science management specialist, Naneng's work focuses on ways to integrate science into collaborative coral reef management practices. She was one of the original founders of the Indonesian branch of the Reef Check Foundation, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and rehabilitating tropical coral reefs and California rocky reefs. Prior to her involvement with Reef Check Indonesia, Naneng was a project leader of the Friends of the Reef program managed by WWF Indonesia. She finished her postgraduate work at Bandung Institute of Technology and the School of Environmental Science at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. Naneng currently lives in Bali, Indonesia.
Liz Foote, Hawaii Field Manager
As CORAL’s Hawaii field manager based in Maui, Liz contributes invaluable local knowledge and understanding to our conservation programs, ensuring that each project fully incorporates the needs and realities of the local communities. In addition to her work with CORAL, Liz founded the Maui-based nonprofit organization Project S.E.A.-Link in 1999 and currently serves as its executive director. Project S.E.A.-Link seeks to encourage and inspire marine science education and promotes local stewardship through community-based reef monitoring, marine naturalist volunteer trainings, and other education and outreach projects. Before settling on Maui, Liz worked as a whale watch naturalist in Massachusetts, volunteered at aquariums in Connecticut and California, taught coral reef ecology aboard a schooner in the Virgin Islands, studied orcas in British Columbia, and assisted reef researchers in the Florida Keys. Among her favorite ocean-related memories are diving in the Johnson Sea-Link submersible while in high school and meeting renowned ocean scientist Sylvia Earle in the Aquarius Undersea Habitat sixty feet underwater. Liz earned a bachelor’s of science degree in ecology, behavior, and evolution from the University of California, San Diego, and worked in research laboratories at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. After shifting her focus from marine research to marine education, she obtained a master’s of science degree in science education from Oregon State University.
Jenny Myton, Honduras Field Manager
Jenny is an American-Honduran who has lived in Honduras her whole life. She currently resides on the island of Roatan, where she and her husband, Ian Drysdale, serve on the water board and for the local business association. Jenny has more than nine years of experience monitoring coral reef health and working on community-based resource conservation initiatives, including two years with the Bay Islands Environmental Management Program (funded by the Inter-American Development Bank). She has worked with Coral Cay Conservation, UNEP, Conservation International, and The Nature Conservancy, among others. Jenny and Ian founded and run Luna Environmental, an environmental consulting company, and have carried out environmental impact studies throughout Honduras. In addition to her work for CORAL, Jenny is currently completing a master's degree course in sustainable development.
Sunil Raj. Prasad, Fiji Field Manager
Sunil has been with CORAL since August 2011 and is supporting our community-based conservation efforts in Kubulau and the Namena Marine Reserve. Prior to joining CORAL, Sunil worked as a research assistant with the University of the South Pacific and as temporary head of school for Labasa campus of the Fiji National University. He has served as an entomological research assistant, project coordinator, and communications officer with our partner WCS-Fiji. His professional background includes experience and expertise in project planning, monitoring, and evaluation, as well as internal and external communications. He holds a bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry, a postgraduate diploma in biology, and a master of science degree in conservation biology. His dissertation focused on invertebrate representation in Fiji's future proposed network of forest reserves.
Valentine Rosado, Belize Field Manager
Valentine combined his passion for conservation and scuba diving when he joined CORAL as its field representative in Belize in 2007. Based in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, Valentine also works for the Green Reef Environmental Institute, where he is on the forefront of conservation issues relating to the global effects of tourism, coastal development, and climate change on many World Heritage Sites in Belize. As president of the University of Belize Sub-Aqua Club in 2004, he organized volunteer student initiatives, including sea turtle nesting patrols, manatee capture and tagging, grouper spawning aggregation dives, mangrove studies, and student scuba certifications. As part of independent research for the university, Valentine was actively engaged in the monitoring of Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) hatchlings at the Manatee Bar Sea Turtle nesting beach in Southern Belize. Valentine earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of Belize, and is an active PADI IDC Staff Instructor, a Reef Check Instructor Trainer, and a Belize National Tour Guide.
Helen Sykes, Fiji Shark Campaign Manager
Helen has more than twenty years of experience working in the marine environment in the Caribbean, Central America, and the South Pacific, and has been working as a marine biologist and consultant in Fiji since 1997. She has played a central role in the development of marine management strategies and sustainable tourism initiatives in Fiji, and has authored numerous publications on the subjects. Helen has also been instrumental in the development of the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas Network, and has served on its executive committee and biological monitoring working group since its formation. Helen has a degree in applied biology from the Stockport College of Technology in England, and is currently registered to complete a master's degree in coral reef health at the University of the South Pacific.
Sirilo "Didi" Dulunaqio, Fiji Field Representative
Hailing from the village of Nadivakarua in the Kubulau District of Fiji, Didi worked closely with district chiefs and local communities to facilitate the creation of the Namena Marine Reserve in 1997. In 2001, CORAL funded a trip to the Bonaire Marine Park in the Dutch Caribbean, where Didi learned about marine protected areas and sustainable financing. In addition to being CORAL’s field representative in Fiji, Didi works for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Prior to joining CORAL, he spent several years working in the dive industry at Moody's Namena and L'Aventure at the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort. Didi helps the CORAL program staff implement conservation projects and works tirelessly to increase communication between the Kubulau Resource Management Committee, tour operators, and environmental organizations.
Adriana Gonzalez Haro, Mexico Field Representative
Adriana discovered the underwater world in 2008, and has been an avid scuba diver ever since—she now specializes in Nitrox, underwater navigation, and night diving, and has been trained in Atlantic Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) methodology. She began diving in the Mexican Pacific, where she participated in a liveaboard expedition to identify future diving sites in the Gulf of Cortez, and is now enjoying getting to know the reefs of the Mexican Caribbean. Before joining CORAL, Adriana worked as a technical advisor on several forest projects at an environmental consulting firm in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Through internships, she also collaborated with several private and government institutions in Mexico, including the Interdisciplinary Center for Marine Science (CICIMAR). Adriana is passionate about protecting coral reefs, and has volunteered with several conservation programs in addition to her work with CORAL. She holds a degree in aquaculture biotechnology and intends to earn a master's degree in tropical marine ecology.
Kara Osada-D'Avella, Hawaii Field Representative
Originally from Colorado, Kara's lifelong passion for the ocean was nurtured by frequent family trips to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Caribbean throughout her childhood. Her enduring goal to become a fish led Kara to get her open water SCUBA certification at age 12, and by age 19 she was a PADI Assistant Instructor working on dive boats to put herself through school. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Hilo in 2004 with bachelor's degrees in biology and marine science, and in 2010 she completed her master's degree in tropical conservation biology and environmental sciences, focusing on the relationships among zooplankton, manta rays, and divers. Kara began working for CORAL in 2007, and has been coordinating the successful West Hawaii Voluntary Standards project among other initiatives. Kara also works as a marine technician for the Division of Aquatic Resources and occasionally helps NOAA to conduct fish biological assessments of remote U.S. territory islands. Kara holds a NAUI Instructor dive rating and runs her own business offering CPR, first aid, and oxygen certification classes.
Riyan Heri Pamungkas, Indonesia Field Representative
Riyan has been working for coral reef conservation since an early age, and recently graduated with a degree in oceanography from Diponegoro University. While studying at the university, he led other students to conduct the first underwater survey of reefs in Karimun Jawa. Riyan has organized and participated in some of the most prestigious coral reef monitoring work in Indonesia, and also serves on the staff of the Reef Check Indonesia Foundation.
Moala Tokota'a, Fiji Field Representative
Moala Tokota'a is widely known as one of Fiji's top ambassadors of conservation. A veteran to field work, the Lau native also has extensive experience making science and conservation messages accessible to traditional Fijian communities. Moala has worked for a number of years with our partner organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and his field experience includes bird surveys, mammal trapping, wetland work, and a wide range of arthropod collections. Moala's skill with arthropods has recently earned him a new species of Dolichopodid fly, Plagiozopelma tokotaai, named in his honor. Moala's ease and expertise in both scientific and traditional Fijian communities is a great asset to CORAL's work in Fiji.
Ratu Manoa Rasigatale, Fiji Shark Campaign Representative
A celebrated figure in Fiji, Manoa has dedicated his career to protecting and promoting Fiji's culture and environment. He hails from Nabuli Village in Rewa Province, where he was raised with a deep appreciation for his heritage. Trained in both theater and journalism, Manoa served as a journalist for the Fiji Times and has worked on an impressive array of productions for both stage and screen. He is the producer and star of the popular MaiTV program We Ni Yava, which shares bush survival skills with younger generations in Fiji. Among his many achievements, Manoa represented Rewa in the Fiji House of Senate in 2006, and was one of the hundred people featured in the book 20th Century Fiji-People Who Shaped the Nation. He has now become Fiji's "Sharkman," promoting shark conservation across the nation.
Kelly Thomas Brown, Fiji Shark Campaign Representative
Kelly is currently conducting density, habitat, and nursery studies of Fiji's reef-associated sharks for his master's thesis at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva, Fiji. With a bachelor's degree and a postgraduate diploma in marine science under his belt, Kelly also serves as a graduate teaching assistant at USP's School of Marine Studies. He has extensive coral reef surveying experience in Fiji, and is particularly interested in coral reef ecology, the role of large marine animals in reef ecosystems, the importance of shark nurseries in shark conservation, and the significance of sharks in traditional Pacific Island culture. Kelly's thesis studies will contribute to the limited knowledge of reef-associated sharks in Fiji and aid in shark conservation and awareness efforts.