OUR TEAM
OGP Management Team
A combination of Manta Trust and University of Plymouth staff who design and oversee the programme.
Professor Martin Attrill
Martin is the research lead for the School of Biological and Marine Sciences at the University of Plymouth. A marine ecologist who has published over 130 papers in the prime literature and helped to establish the Ocean Giants Programme (formally Ocean Giants Trust).
Dr. Guy Stevens
Guy is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Manta Trust, one of the leading experts on manta and devil (mobulid) experts, and author of the award-winning MANTA – The Secret Life of Devil Rays (2017) and the Guide to Manta and Devil Rays of the World (2018).
Dr. Clare Embling
Clare is a lecturer in marine ecology and programme leader for the BSc Marine Biology & Oceanography at the University of Plymouth. She teaches a range of courses from statistics to biological oceanography and marine vertebrate ecology.
Bex Carter
Bex is the Manta Trust Director of Operations. She has been working in marine conservation and education for over a decade and currently leads the Manta Trust core team responsible for fundraising, media and communications, educational outreach, and conservation strategy.
Jen Spacagna
Jen is the Manta Trust Education Manager. She drives forward all of the Manta Trust’s educational outreach activities, including school workshops, online webinars, and careers advice sessions. She has a wealth of experience in teaching and works to ignite a passion for the marine environment.
OGP Partners
The Project Leaders for our Partner NGOs who provide training and work experience to our Apprentices.
Dr. Alessandro Ponzo
Alessandro is the Co-Founder and Director of LAMAVE. He spent time studying orca in Alaska, and Western Pacific gray whale in the Bering Sea, before founding LAMAVE in the Philippines in 2010. He is a Kinship Fellow and a 2018 National Geographic Explorer.
Karen Fuentes
Karen is the Founder of the Manta Caribbean Project. She worked as a translator and naturalist guide in a variety of National Parks and Biosphere Reserves around the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico before founding her manta ray research project in 2013.
Dr. Simon Elwen
Simon is the Founding Director and Principal Investigator of Sea Search. He runs most of the ecological work on the Namibian Dolphin Project including studies relating to abundance, distribution and conservation impacts.
Dr. Tess Gridley
Tess is the Founding Director, Operations Manager and Principal Scientist for Sea Search. She leads the Namibian Dolphin Project’s work on bottlenose dolphin behavioural acoustics in Walvis Bay as well as acoustic towed hydrophone array surveys.
Liaisons
Members of the University of Plymouth faculty who support our Apprentices and communicate regularly with our NGO Partners.
Dr. Robert Puschendorf – Manta Caribbean Project
Dr. Nicola Quick – Sea Search
Dr. Clare Embling – LAMAVE
Trainers
Manta Trust staff who provide training and support for our Apprentices in their specialist areas.
Jas Corbett – Media & Communications Manager
Eleanor Gloster – Finance Manager
Eithne Tynan – Fundraising Manager
Bex Carter – Director of Operations