• Marilu Cristina Flores, Founder & Chair

    Marilu Cristina Flores is an award-winning filmmaker, coral researcher, and recipient of the 2021 Go Blue Ambassador of the Year Award.

    Recognized as a Hispanic Ocean Conservation Hero in 2021, she holds a certificate degree from the University of Queensland in Tropical Coastal Ecosystem Resource Management and served the Surfrider Foundation as Regional Coordinator and then Manager from 2018 - 2022.

    During her time with Surfrider, Marilu helped community activists pass over 50 ordinances across the state of Florida to protect our marine and coastal ecosystems and in 2021, she was appointed to serve the Southeast Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI) as an NGO/nonprofit partner.

    An ally for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Marilu hopes to create opportunities that inspire women in S.T.E.M and includes the voices of the Carribbean diaspora in conservation work.

  • Vice Chair

  • Beatriz Chachamovits, Secretary

    Beatriz Chachamovits is an environmental artist and educator from São Paulo, Brazil living and working in Miami, Florida.

    Her work renders tangible the decline of the coral reef ecosystems, and the role played by humans in it. Her intention is to share the majestic beauty of at-risk marine ecologies as well as the appalling rate of their destruction. She works with monochromatic ceramic sculptures and drawings to highlight the unique shape, form, and texture that exists in the underwater world. She is the author and illustrator of the book The little handbook of marine fishes and other aquatic marvels (Pequeno manual de peixe marinhos e outras maravilhas aquáticas), published by Companhia das Letrinhas in São Paulo, Brazil in 2018.

    Chachamovits’ work has recently been featured in Vogue Magazine’s Earth and Us section and in the National Geographic Education platform, part of an AAAS grant to teach fifth graders about women in marine science.

  • Kristi Kerrigan, Treasurer

    Kristi Kerrigan is a coral reef expert and sustainability enthusiast living in North Palm Beach, Florida. She holds a BS degree in Marine Biology and Environmental Science from UNC Wilmington and an MS degree in Environmental Studies from the College of Charleston. Her love for the oceans and the environment culminated after a six-month study abroad in New Zealand.

    After graduating, Kristi started her career as Reef Resilience Coordinator with DEP’s Coral Reef Conservation Program where she ran several citizen engagement programs, contributed to the state’s response to stony coral tissue loss disease, and spearheaded numerous projects linked to coral restoration and resilience. Kristi went on to eventually become Manager of the program but recently stepped down to take classes in GIS and Accounting (yes, totally unrelated).

    Currently, she is working part-time in grant management because of her love for spreadsheets and numbers.

    In her free time, you can find her listening to live music, diving blue heron bridge, or surfing at Juno Beach!

  • Ryan Kaleolani Darling, Technical Advisor

    The (hu)man behind the tech, Ryan Kaleolani Darling is an accomplished painter, digital artist, drone engineer, and photographer.

    Born in Oregon and raised between the mountains of Vermont and the shores of Hawai’i, Ryan holds over a decade of experience developing drone technology and engineering custom aerial drones for use in film production and photography.

    Handy with a soldering iron and patient with small parts, Ryan fixes our fleet of drones and performs the necessary maintenance that comes when electronics meet salt water.

    Ryan helps keep us up to date on technological advancements when it comes to the world of drones, submersible drones, and cameras.