Current team
We are led by Amanda Vincent, Heather Koldewey and Sarah Foster.
At any given time, we have only a few other core staff. Much of our strength comes from international collaborations or our institutional teams. We depend heavily on in-country staff, graduate students from around the world, undergraduate students, volunteers and interns.
Leadership
Director and Co-Founder, Project Seahorse
Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia
Prof. Amanda Vincent is driven by a determination to protect our oceans. As well as tackling research on pressing problems, Prof. Vincent also mobilizes conservation action to improve the status of marine species and habitats. Given that there is no such thing as perfect advice, she is keen to act on the best available information, making recommendations in the spirit of adaptive management. She works to tell good news stories, always seeking solutions that generate optimism and action by the largest possible number of people. Prof. Vincent and her Project Seahorse team have made measurable gains in marine conservation, with encouraging outcomes and impacts from their work.
Co-Founder and Field Conservation Manager, Project Seahorse
Senior Technical Advisor, Zoological Society of London
Ever since peering into rockpools as a small child, Heather has been fascinated by what lives in water. Following a BSc honours degree at the University of Plymouth, she completed a PhD (Genetics) at the University of Wales, Swansea.
Program Leader, Project Seahorse
Senior Researcher, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia
Dr. Sarah Foster has been with the Project Seahorse team for 20+ years. Now as one of the three leaders, Sarah shares credit for its many successes, ranging from new marine protected areas in the Philippines to global constraints on marine fish exports.
Senior Researchers
Project Leader – Seahorse Science, Project Seahorse
Senior Researcher, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia
Dr. Correia has studied several aspects of European seahorse biology, ecology and conservation. He holds a PhD in Marine Ecology from the University of Algarve (Portugal), where he studied seahorse ecology, specializing in in situ population assessment. He developed a successful breeding program in captivity for both European seahorse species. Miguel has worked closely with stakeholders to implement mitigation tools for seahorse conservation and was actively involved in the creation of new marine protected areas. He is also the Focal Point for Field Conservation at the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group.
j.mcpherson at oceans.ubc.ca
Dr. McPherson hopes to balance the needs of humans and the rest of nature. Her work in conservation (marine and terrestrial) has involved scientific fieldwork, traditional knowledge, species distribution models, remote sensing, sustainable development initiatives, and building large collaborations for mutual learning, data compilation, and analysis. She holds a BSc in Applied Biology from the University of Leeds (UK), a DPhil in Zoology from the University of Oxford (UK), and an MBA from the University of British Columbia. At Project Seahorse, she works with governments in Asia and elsewhere on implementing national management plans to ensure the sustainability of trade in seahorses. She is also a member of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group.
Senior Staff
r.bestbier at oceans.ubc.ca
Gina coordinates lab operations for Project Seahorse and supports research, communications, ethics, education, and administration across the team. Her background spans environmental and conservation research, management, policy, outreach, and operations, with a focus on riparian zones, watershed management, and marine conservation. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Botany and Zoology and an MSc in Conservation and Environmental Biology from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Rabia Mushtaq, Project Seahorse’s Communications Manager, brings over 13 years of experience in strategic communications and campaign leadership. She has led impactful campaigns across wildlife conservation, public health, and gender rights, particularly in Thailand, working with organizations like WildAid, WWF, Population Services International and UN Women. Her efforts have contributed to significant reductions in wildlife consumption and an increase in public awareness on environmental conservation. She holds a Post-Degree Diploma in Marketing Management from Langara College, Vancouver, BC, and a Bachelor of Communication Arts from Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Research Staff
Syd provides support on a wide variety of Project Seahorse’s research projects, primarily working with Dr. Sarah Foster. Her work spans across multiple of our research focuses, including the illegal wildlife trade of seahorses, bottom-trawl fishing, and the biology and ecology of Syngnathoidei fishes. Syd currently holds a BSc from The University of British Columbia, and has previously worked in multiple positions within UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, focusing on projects concerning global fisheries economics, sea otter toxicology, and illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing.
@CaminsElsa
Elsa holds a BSc in Marine Science from the University of Barcelona (Spain) and an MSc in Oceans and Fisheries from The University of British Columbia. Her master’s thesis explored the potential of using community science to study seahorse species, with a focus on the iSeahorse community science project. During her BSc, she initiated a citizen science project aimed at monitoring microplastic pollution in the coastal waters of Barcelona, a project that continues to thrive. At Project Seahorse Elsa is conducting Red List assessments for syngnathid species and providing valuable support to the iSeahorse project. She is also the Red List Authority Coordinator at the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group.
k.cho at oceans.ubc.ca
Ki is a researcher supporting the work of Project Seahorse, focusing primarily on understanding the impacts of bottom trawl fisheries. He works with Dr. Sarah Foster to investigate and map bottom trawl fishing effort across Asia. Ki holds a BSc from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a MSc from Nord University (Norway). Prior to Project Seahorse, he gained diverse practical experience working in local government, NGOs and consultancy firm, where he was involved in MPA enforcement, marine education, and marine ecological impact assessment.
Partnership Staff
Program Leader, Philippines Seahorse Program (ZSL-Philippines)
Charity (Chai) is a marine biologist and biodiversity conservationist with experience leading projects in marine protected areas, local terrestrial conservation area establishment, illegal wildlife trade, and species conservation management. She currently serves as Program Leader for the Philippine Seahorse Program (ZSL–Philippines).
Chai has worked on multiple Project Seahorse initiatives in the Philippines, including leading the national iSeahorse community science effort, supporting seahorse trade research, and contributing to the development of a national action plan for seahorses. She holds an MPhil from the Conservation Leadership Programme at the University of Cambridge (UK).
Jom is a coastal and marine resource management specialist with experience in stakeholder engagement, and a graduate of Environmental Resource Management (major in Coastal Resource Management) from Bohol Island State University. She currently serves as Stakeholder Engagement Officer for the Philippine Seahorse Program, facilitating collaboration between conservation teams and local communities. Her work focuses on building inclusive partnerships and behavior change to support sustainable coastal management and marine conservation.
Simon, a Business Administration graduate of the University of San Agustin, brings experience in finance and logistics, with a background in international NGO operations, to the PSP. His work has supported sustainable development initiatives, advocacy efforts, and marine conservation policy engagement.
Marynoll is a marine conservationist with experience in fisheries research, marine protected areas, and biodiversity mapping. She is a graduate of the University of the Philippines and currently serves as Fisheries Biologist for the Philippine Seahorse Program, focusing on fisheries that impact seahorse populations. Her work examines how behavior change can support sustainable conservation and fisheries management to protect marine ecosystems, wildlife, and dependent communities.
Students
Ruth holds an MBIOL from the University of Oxford (UK) and is an Oxford–Canada Rhodes Scholar. She has recently begun her PhD with Project Seahorse, focusing on fisheries and trade in Mexico and the status of seahorse populations, with an emphasis on planning approaches and implications for management and policy. Her previous research combined evidence-gap analyses and expert elicitation to examine supply chains of at-risk species in the illegal wildlife trade. Ruth is particularly interested in community-based conservation of marine ecosystems.
y.chen at oceans.ubc.ca
Yixuan is investigating the bottom trawl fishery and its management in China, hoping to use her interdisciplinary research to advance marine conservation and fishery management. She holds a BSc in marine biology from Xiamen University (China) and an MSc in environmental policy from Imperial College London (UK). She has experience working at research institutions and NGOs, as well as interacting with diverse stakeholders such as businesses and frontline conservation practitioners. Additionally, she has been actively involved in science communication and environmental education through teaching activities, writing, and general outreach.
j.decapitani at oceans.ubc.ca
Joana is working on a data synthesis of what happens to the ecology of an area when we stop bottom trawling, and to understand gaps and biases on the available evidence of impact caused by bottom dragged gears. She is Brazilian and holds a BSc from Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil), a MSc in the ecology of sea anemones, from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil), and a Postgraduate degree in science communication from Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal). She has previously worked teaching science for underprivileged gifted kids in Brazil and as a scuba diving instructor and dive center manager.
Marta is currently studying the status of fisheries and trade of Hippocampus ingens in Peru through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and focusing on its biology, as this species has never been studied underwater and its biology is largely unknown. She holds a BSc in Marine Science from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) and an MSc in Marine Ecology from the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Her master’s theses centered on the life history of dolphins and the conservation of green turtles in the Philippines.
Marta aims to contribute to marine conservation and sustainable fisheries management throughout her career. She is particularly interested in community-based conservation programs that involve local stakeholders in the preservation of marine biodiversity.
s.polwatta at oceans.ubc.ca |@sammyboomews |@schoolmeetsthereef
Samara is currently researching the ecological distribution, fisheries, and trade of Seahorses in Sri Lanka. Simultaneously, she is investigating the impact of bottom trawling on marine life in the Sri Lankan territorial ocean. She holds an M.Sc. in Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security from the Joint Master’s program at the University of Bonn and United Nations University (Germany). She completed her B.A. in Geography at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Sri Lanka). Previously, Samara worked with the SDG integration team of the UNDP in New York, where she focused on creating Disaster Risk Maps and building the Geohub ecosystem. Her expertise extends to coral reefs, including habitat mapping, reef surveys, restoration efforts, and leading community awareness programs. Samara is also a co-founder of the initiative “School Meets the Reef” and served as the Oceans’ Restoration Steward for 2023/2024.
g.suzano at projectseahorse.org
Guilherme (Gui) is studying the implementation and effects of a trawl fisheries ban in Brazil, exploring the local stakeholders’ perceptions about the ecological and socioeconomic aspects of this policy. He holds a BSc in Oceanography from Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo (Brazil), and has previously worked in marine ecology and conservation projects, fisheries monitoring, bycatch reduction devices in small-scale fisheries and community-supported fishery businesses.
[Updated 27 February 2026]
[Updated 10 May 2024]