Our speakers

Passionate about the environment, Deborah invests in several sustainable businesses and supports a carefully selected group of environmental charities.

He’s filmed series like The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Human Planet, Frozen Planet, Ocean Giants and Operation Iceberg. And he’s covered the issue of overfishing around the globe through the documentary The Missing Fish.

Doug believes it is vital to reconnect people – young and old – with the natural marine world.

Tom presented the BBC worldwide production Fishing Impossible, shown across the globe. And he has written a book called Blowfish’s Oceanopedia – 291 Extraordinary Things You Didn’t Know About the Sea.

Tom’s aim is to encourage conservation by shaking up the established way of doing things.

He is also a TV and radio presenter, presenting Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur with Sir David Attenborough, The Day the Dinosaurs Died and Hyper Evolution: Rise of the Robots on TV and Bone Stories and The Human Hive on Radio 4.

He is author of several books, covering a range of subjects from evolution and anatomy to animal behaviour and natural history. Ben thinks because the ocean gives us so much, we should do all we can to ensure it continues to flourish.

An environmental lawyer by training, her career began working in London City law firms in their environmental, corporate and commercial departments and as a regulation/environmental law solicitor at Anglian Water.

Other public interest organisations Sandy has worked with include the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Before joining the Marine Conservation Society, Sandy was a Programme Director at ClientEarth, and a key member of the team that built the organisation.

As Chief Executive of the Council for National Parks, she successfully campaigned for better legislation and for the South Downs and New Forest to become national parks.

She has been appointed by ministers and the Environment Agency as a conservation member on various committees relating to tourism, waterways, water and environmental protection.

Peter joined the Marine Conservation Society in 2001, after 10 years of adventure running sea turtle conservation projects overseas.

He oversees the Marine Conservation Society Ocean Recovery team supporting their Marine Protected Areas work, Seasearch programme, UK Overseas Territories Conservation programme, Agents of Change and wildlife sightings schemes.

Jean-Luc jointed the Marine Conservation Society in 2002, after two years of diving in the Philippines and working on Coral Cay Conservation, prior to which he was a coral reef expert in Tanzania.

Jean-Luc continues to push the boundaries to introduce Marine Protected Area management measures that will make a significant difference to how our seas are doing.

Between 2010 and 2013, Chris was the Environment Agency lead on bathing waters during implementation of the revised Bathing Water Directive, when she worked closely with the Marine Conservation Society. She also led on agriculture and land management, tackling water pollution from agriculture.

Chris brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to her role as Director of Programmes, and works closely with government in making sure our seas are protected and not overlooked.