Ocean Wise Announces New Board Of Directors

Ocean Wise is pleased to announce four new members of the Board of Directors that joined the team in June 2021 to build on the organization’s vision of healthy and resilient oceans! As our oceans face unprecedented threats from climate change, overfishing, and pollution, Ocean Wise believes that by equipping and empowering individuals, companies, and governments, we can create a future where our oceans flourish. These new Directors will help support Ocean Wise as they take global actions to protect and restore our world’s oceans and execute Ocean Wise’s 10-year conservation strategy – The Decade to Turn the Tide.  

Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, is an award-winning ocean activist and advocate for ocean restoration and abundance. As head of Oceans 2050, and as a senior advisor to ocean conservation organization Oceana, Cousteau collaborates with world leaders across sectors to influence, convene, and mobilize action to achieve measurable outcomes that will make the oceans more biodiverse and abundant. 

Nina Jensen is the CEO of REV Ocean, the world’s largest Research and Expedition Vessel (REV) which will be available for scientists, NGOs, policy makers, innovators, engineers, and marine stakeholders. All REV Ocean initiatives are based on open collaboration and partnerships with relevant stakeholders, working toward the same common goal – preserving our ocean. 

She started this position in 2018 after 15 years in WWF-Norway, CEO since 2012. Nina has a burning commitment and passion for oceans, conservation, and sustainable solutions. She holds a Master’s degree in Marine Biology from the University of Fishery Science in Tromsø, and has a background in communications and marketing from Ogilvy& Mather. She is a Board member of The Business for Peace Foundation. Member of the Adjudication Committee for the Nordic Council Nature and Environment Award. Nina is born and raised in Oslo, she loves to dive, fish, ski, hike and loves the outdoors. 

Richard Sparrow is the Director of Indigenous lead conservation through reconciliation with the Grizzly Bear Foundation (GBF) and has been active in the field of First Nations conservation, restoration management, and policy for more than 20 years. Richard is a member and Councillor of xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band). 

Richard has spent his career advocating for the protection and enhancement of the inherent fishing rights and title of local First Nations communities. Richard’s work primarily focuses on building and maintaining natural resource relationships with Indigenous communities throughout BC. His work focuses on collective impact related to First Nation natural resource management and inherent rights. Prior to his work with GBF, Richard spent more than 6 years providing senior management to the First Nations Fisheries Council of BC (supporting intergovernmental affairs and fisheries management) as well as governance and leadership to the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance and the Musqueam Fisheries Commission. 

Brian Sullivan is part of a broader team dedicated to leveraging and developing Google’s infrastructure to address global environmental, health, and humanitarian issues. As part of Google’s “in-kind technology philanthropy,” Brian manages external partner relationships and internal Google collaborations to identify and accelerate initiatives in machine learning, large scale analytics, and remote sensing with an impact focus. His partnerships experience spans academic and research organizations, NGOs, UN agencies, government/policy, philanthropy, the private sector, as well being a frequent conference speaker and project advocate. 

As a co-founder of Global Fishing Watch and the scaling of Google’s underwater streetview program, ocean conservation and awareness have always been important to him. He continues to explore ocean foraging, free and scuba diving, underwater photography, and volunteers for data monitoring programs with Reef Check, California Fish & Wildlife, and various research institutions as passion projects. 

Earlier in his career, Brian focused on business intelligence and strategic partnerships at Google, served as a management consultant in financial services, and managed digital divide programs in West Africa. He holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. His love of technology is tempered with the opposing and complementary need to spend time in nature. 

We are thrilled that they will be joining the existing board members who have shown Ocean Wise continuous support: 

Christian Baxter, the Chair of the Board of Directors, is responsible for the environmental performance of operations with a primary focus on challenges related to water and water quality at his role at Teck. Christian’s personal interests are in development of new technologies and ways of addressing challenges. 

Guy Dean is passionate about supporting and promoting the consumption of sustainable seafood and particularly the long-term viability of the seafood industry. In 2018, Guy was awarded the ‘Seafood Champion Award for Leadership’ by the Ocean Foundation at the Seaweb Seafood summit in Barcelona, Spain. 

Ninu Gill has more than 25 years of experience in External and Internal Communications (Media, Public and Government Relations, Corporate Communications, Marketing Communications.)  

Barbara Meens Thistle works with organizations as a senior level strategic Human Resource advisor, providing guidance on strategy to create strong workplace cultures and strong teams.  

TJ Schmaltz has been an Ocean Wise board member since 2016 and is part of Ocean Wise’s Investment Committee. TJ is a passionate supporter of ocean conservation and has also previously served on the board for a small aquarium on Vancouver Island. 

Helen Sheridan is Chief Human Resources Officer at STEMCELL Technologies, Canada’s largest life sciences company. She has previously held senior leadership roles in several BC technology companies. 

Keith Spencer is a leading information technology lawyer in British Columbia. As a member of various boards and advisory committees, Keith plays a significant role in number of early stage and emerging technology companies and technology industry associations. 

Lisa Stewart is an Investment Counsellor with RBC PH&N Investment Counsel. Throughout her career, Lisa has spent a considerable amount of time managing, developing, and mentoring investment professionals which has allowed her to further appreciate all aspects of the financial services industry. 

Ian Warner has over 20 years of experience achieving excellent results in portfolio and fiscal growth within the financial services sector. Currently, he is the President & CEO of Aprio Inc., a board management software company located in Vancouver, BC. 

Rod Campbell is the Chief Executive Officer at aDolus Technology Inc., a company providing the FACT security platform to aid in the detection of malicious and counterfeit software in “smart devices” used in the industrial, aerospace, and medical fields. 

Martin Thibodeau is the Regional President of RBC Royal Bank in British Columbia. Martin is a Governor of the BC Business Council, and he sits on the Board of Directors for BC Children’s Hospital, Science World, Ocean Wise, Peter Dhillon Center for Business Ethics, Urban Development Institute and is part of the CABGU Board for BC & Alberta.