Our team

We have built a dedicated team of people who are passionate about using their skills and expertise to protect and restore one of the planet’s most valuable habitats.


Mark Parry

Head of Ocean Habitat Restoration

Mark has spent much of his life enjoying the benefits of being next to the Ocean, and like the rest of the Ocean Conservation Trust, has witnessed change. Growing up swimming in Plymouth Sound, then learning to surf in South Devon and finally exploring the Ocean floor through diving the change witnessed has been one of loss; loss of rich diverse habitats and the varied wildlife that call these special places home. Mark has always felt at home next to the Ocean and given the opportunity to enhance Ocean Habitats for the benefit of Nature is definitely his favourite part of the job. When he’s not at work, then he is usually found in the Ocean, surfing or diving.

Nicola Bridge

Head of Ocean Advocacy and Engagement

Nicola has always been drawn to the sea and has always wanted to take care of it, as well as encourage others to think about their relationship with the Ocean too. She strongly believes that everyone can be a conservationist. People are our greatest resource and people must be involved!

As a conservation biologist she is passionate about changing the narrative about what constitutes conservation. Everyone on the planet is responsible for the health of the natural world that sustains us, protecting habitats and species in many cases is just a question of human behaviour.

Outside of work she loves spending time with her beautiful rescue dog Funky.

 

Andy Cameron

Conservation Project Manager

Andy is the Conservation Projects Manager for Blue Meadows, which basically means a bit of everything! He has worked in marine conservation for nearly 20 years across NGOs, government and academia, primarily focused on mapping and data analysis. An experienced diver and a seasoned swimmer, he’s probably happiest when he’s on, in or under the water so he feels very lucky to be working on seagrass conservation! He also loves to draw, sing loudly behind closed doors where he can’t hurt anyone and he likes to think he runs but there’s not much evidence of it these days.

Cat Ansell

Communications Officer

Cat is our dedicated Communications Officer, responsible for all things marketing and communications; but with a background in marine science, she has been known to get stuck in planting seagrass! Her favourite part of the job is collaborating with the rest of the team, and turning their seagrass conservation successes into engaging stories for different audiences. In her spare time, Cat can often be found by the coast, in the sea, walking on Dartmoor, reading a book, doing pottery or in the pub with her friends!

Matt Bailey

Dive Technician

Whilst studying Oceanography with Coastal Processes at the University of Plymouth, Matt qualified as a HSE diver. With a keen interest in marine life and the underwater environment, he spent many hours in the waters off Devon & Cornwall as a freelance diver for the OCT.

Now, as the Dive Technician, Matt maintains the dive equipment, plans the dive logistics and helps to ensure the divers safety. He takes part in the dives to harvest and plant the seagrass, along with the monitoring of the seagrass beds and placement of marker buoys to protect the meadows.

A great lover of the outdoors, Matt enjoys trying new sports and activities. Already a well established skier & rugby player, he took up climbing last year and has rediscovered his enthusiasm for cycling (both off road and on).

Mim Daughtery

Senior Seagrass Aquaculture Technician

Mim is a seagrass aquaculture technician working in the Brixham seagrass facility. As a part of the Blue Meadows team Mim works to restore this endangered habitat, by cultivating seagrass plants from seeds until they’re ready to be deployed out at sea. Mim’s favourite part of the job is, after the gruelling task of making and planting 600 crates along with help from her team and their faithful volunteers, seeing, what she calls “baby seagrass!”, pop out through the sand and start to show signs of development for the first time. Mim has many hobbies, which include gaming, surfing, playing guitar and going to the pub.

Ida Kreuze

Research Masters Student

Ida grew up in Peru swimming in the Pacific Ocean and fell in love with the sea at a very young age. She recently finished her undergraduate degree in Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology at the University of Plymouth, where she became very interested in the critical and often overlooked coastal habitats like seagrass meadows.

She is now undertaking a Research Masters investigating the accumulation of microplastics, particularly tyre wear particles, in seagrass beds and their associated fauna. She hopes to increase our understanding of anthropogenic impacts on these critical environments and contribute to solving the problem of excessive microplastics in the sea.

Outside of work, you’ll mainly find Ida baking, playing guitar, walking by the sea, or at the gym.

Amelia Newman

PhD Researcher

Amelia is a passionate conservationist and experienced diver. She previously worked at the Ocean Conservation Trust growing seagrass in our state of the art lab at the National Marine Aquarium. This involved being in the water and in the lab, looking after the plants and seeds to improve our growing facility and the restoration efforts. She is now undertaking PhD research. In her spare time she also enjoy spending time in the water, regularly practicing underwater hockey.

Tadhg O Corcora

Senior Seagrass Aquaculture Technician

Tadhg is the Senior Seagrass Aquaculture Technician for Blue Meadows, where he applies his expertise in marine conservation to enhance seagrass restoration and aquaculture projects. With a background in conservation biology and as an experienced technical diver, Tadhg has worked on various conservation initiatives around the world, contributing to global efforts in preserving marine ecosystems. In his downtime, Tadhg enjoys walking the stunning landscapes of Dartmoor with his rescue dog, Adoba, and diving into any type of water-based activity.

 

Lauren Park-McCann

Seagrass Aquaculture Technician

Lauren has a degree in Marine Biology and began her career working in hyperbarics and researching shipworms before shifting her focus to seagrass ecosystems. As a Seagrass Aquaculture Technician for Blue Meadows, she plays an active in seagrass cultivation efforts and also oversees the volunteer team. Lauren is also a member of the dive team, contributing to the hands-on work in the field.

Outside of work, Lauren is happy if she is out and about in nature. She enjoys sea swimming, playing hockey, hiking on Dartmoor, paddleboarding and seaglass collecting to make cards for friends and family.  She’s also a  music lover so regularly attends live gigs or anywhere where she can have a sing and a dance with friends.

Leah Pettitt

Seagrass Aquaculture Technician

Leah holds a degree in Environmental Science and has always been drawn to the marine environment. Her interest in seagrass restoration began during her placement year with the husbandry team at the National Marine Aquarium, where she was involved in seagrass cultivation trials. During this time, Leah also volunteered as a diver with the Community Seagrass Initiative, an experience that deepened her passion for marine conservation and inspired the subject of her final-year project on the presence of microplastics in seagrass ecosystems. As a Seagrass Aquaculture Technician, Leah contributes to the research and restoration of seagrass ecosystems, with a particular focus on improving aquaculture systems. Outside of work, Leah enjoys creating macramé pieces, cycling, bouldering, playing board games, and studying Italian. She has a growing collection of houseplants, with her snake plant, Ferdy, being a favourite, recently joined by a new snake plant pup, Ferdino.

Megan Ross

Blue Meadows Community Engagement Officer

Megan is one of our Blue Meadows Engagement Officers. Her job involves sharing knowledge and increasing awareness of our spectacular seagrass habitats, whilst empowering communities to care for their local meadows. Her favourite part of the job is seeing the exhilaration on people’s faces when they experience seagrass for the first time!

In her spare time, Megan loves doing anything in, on or near the water – whether that is walking along the Southwest Coast path, swimming or paddleboarding.

Eden Stevens

Blue Meadows Engagement Officer

Eden is one of our Blue Meadows Engagement Officers. Her job involves empowering communities along the southwest to take action for their local seagrass beds and get involved with the Blue Meadows project.

Growing up by the sea, she has always felt a special connection to the Ocean, and she’s constantly fascinated by the array of species that call it home, especially the seagrass! Loving all things Ocean she’s passionate about protecting the marine environment.

In her free time, Eden can be found walking, growing veggies, or at the beach snorkelling, and she loves to dive into a good book!

Miriam Webborn

Habitat Monitoring Officer

Miriam is the Habitat Monitoring Officer for Blue Meadows. She works with all the seagrass data collected through Blue Meadows! Miriam has a background in marine science, environmental management, citizen science and data management. She is excited to use her skills to manage data collected through Blue Meadows.

From seed to fully grown seagrass living in the Ocean, Blue Meadows collect information on seagrass. From this we can understand the number of seeds collected from donor beds, growth rates in the National Seagrass Nursery or Lab and effectiveness of restoration efforts when deployed back into the Ocean. Miriam provides the locations for seagrass placed back on the seabed then leads the work which monitors them over time.

Monitoring in the marine environment is collected through dive surveys, drop camera surveys and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). These techniques are used to assess the extent and density of seagrass beds and identify areas for potential protection, restoration and regeneration. She also works with eDNA, water quality, carbon coring and social/behavioural survey data. She is passionate about the power of data in evidence-based decision making.

Outside of the world of data, Miriam is happiest in, on or by the Ocean! She loves swimming in the sea, getting out on the boat, surfing, board games and coastal walks.

 

Help us create Blue Meadows

If you’d like to find out more about seagrass, or our protection and restoration work, then we would love to hear from you.

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