2024

Adhiet Yogi Utomo is Koltiva’s Project Lead, leading Koltiva’s field teams to manage and implement sustainable sourcing projects and producer capacity building especially on aquaculture, fisheries, dairy, and coconut commodity in South East Asia. Having five years' experience in aquaculture-fisheries and business development with key expertise in marine governance, he has worked in managing various sustainability and aquaculture-fisheries programs.  Adhiet has Bachelor of Science in aquaculture from IPB University, Indonesia and Master of Science in Aquaculture and Marine Resources Management with Environmental Governance Specialization in Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands. Adhiet has special interest in the governance and sociology of the seascape community. 

Asami Takahashi works for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and has responsible for implementing of MSC fisheries outreach program in Japan with the aim of expanding sustainable managed fisheries in the region.  She acts as a main liaison for MSC fisheries program in certified fisheries and development stakeholder engagement with government, NGOs, relevant companies to the fishery. Prior to joining the MSC, she started her career as a science communicator at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. She holds a Master degree of Science from the University of the Ryukyus, specializing in coral reef marine biology. In her free time, she enjoys diving, beach combing, photography and cooking.

Chunyu Liu is a PhD candidate in Marine Science at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, holding a Master's degree in Climate and Society from Columbia University. Driven by a passion for marine conservation, Chunyu has actively explored various areas critical to ocean health, including small-scale fisheries, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), blue carbon, and aquaculture's impact on the environment and society. Her doctoral research aims to elucidate the complex socio-ecological dynamics of coastal areas, examining the impacts of human activities and climate change on marine biodiversity and ecosystem health.

Lingzi is a project manager in the Information Industry, also, the co-founder of BlueFins, an ocean conservation organization that focuses on the preservation of coral reef and other marine eco-systems in Shenzhen, China. Her passion for scuba diving and underwater photographing led her to the ocean conservation since 2018. For years she worked in various conservation programs , including underwater coral nursery construction, out planting coral fragments, holding livestreams of coral spawning and conducting courses to divers for coral monitoring capacity building. Lingzi tried to make contributions by leveraging her management skills into more marine conservation projects.

Ranitya Nurlita has possessed in-depth knowledge of environmental conservation since 2011. Her focus has been on sustainability issues, particularly in waste management, ocean conservation, and ecotourism. Lita holds the positions of Community Manager OceanCycle.co (plastic ocean-bound certification), a Practitioner Lecturer for the Ministry of Education in Indonesia, and Founder of Wastehub. Additionally, she serves as CMO of PT. Earthnusa Jelajah Dunia (a regenerative and ecotourism startup) and an Ecotourism Bali Ambassador. Her impressive background extends to UN consulting, where she served as the Partnership and Reporting Expert for Empower II Women for Climate Resilient Societies (UNEP) and a Local Smart City Consultant for UN ESCAP. 

Richard has a background in law and international environmental policy. Richard studied law in Costa Rica -where he is originally from-and International Environmental Policy at Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California. He has worked in Costa Rica, the US, and Latin America and the Caribbean. His experience includes working with small-scale fisheries and conducting research and policy analysis. Most recently, he conducted research on the implementation of IMO tools in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction to regulate maritime traffic in the (Costa Rica) Thermal Dome.  Currently, Richard works as Policy Analyst for the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency at Oceana.  Richard is fluent in English and Spanish and enjoys all types of outdoor activities. Please feel free to reach out and say hi or “hola” to him!

Pura Vida!

Riza Baroqi is a Governance Officer at the Masyarakat Dan Perikanan Indonesia (MDPI) Foundation, responsible for leading the Tuna Fisheries Co-Management Platform in several provinces in Indonesia to achieve the goal of community empowerment, sustainability and responsibility in small-scale fisheries. He is also involved in Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs) for yellowfin tuna handline in WCPO and IO, as well as small-scale shrimp trammel netting in Central Java. He holds a bachelor's degree in Fisheries from Mataram University. In his free time, he loves playing badminton. 

Allan is a co-founder of Tindagat, a social enterprise that aims to uplift the lives of Filipino small-scale fishers and engage them as agents of sustainable fisheries and marine conservation. He earned his MS in Innovation and Business at the Asian Institute of Management, where Allan, along with two other teammates, started Tindagat. He is also a Sustainable Ocean Alliance fellow and was one of Philippines' representatives at the 2022 UN Ocean Conference Youth Forum. Through his role as an ESG Ratings Senior Associate for MSCI, he also contributes to driving sustainability practices in the corporate sector. His other interests include watching documentaries, having coffee with friends, and pet keeping. 

Respecting people and nature, Yuzhou wishes to contribute to a better natural environment and a healthy ocean for future generations. She is currently working as Communication Manager and Policy Researcher at Qingdao Marine Conservation Society, a leading local NGO focusing on conservation of marine ecosystems and sustainable development of fisheries in China. Yuzhou hopes promote marine conservation through increasing public awareness, reforming related policy and regulations as well as strengthening the expertise of NGO practitioners through networking and capacity building. In her last experience at IUCN, her research focused on geoengineering policy, climate change & marine protected areas, and the climatic challenges of the Arctic. She also supported the fundraising of the project “Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility” and led its communication campaign. 

Yiya works at Xiamen University in China and is currently involved in the establishment of an ocean innovative institution called Fujian-OI, which aims to offer systematic solutions for a prosperous and sustainable ocean by integrating resources through cross-sectoral partnerships and collaborative design. She works a lot with scientists, entrepreneurs and government investors. Prior to joining Fujian-OI, she has worked for years at Xiamen University in undergraduate training for environmental & ecological protection and ocean sustainable development. She holds a M.S. of Oceanography from University of Rhode Island, USA, and a B.S. in Environmental Science from University of Science and Technology of China.

Abe is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia. His interest of study includes systematics, taxonomy, and diversity study of marine invertebrates, focusing on the group Echinoderms. Recently, he has ventured into the research of sustainable aquaculture focusing on Echinoderms and actively involved translating this knowledge to be adopted by coastal communities. At the same time, he is passionate in creating awareness and education of marine sciences to the society through various educational programmes done in CEMACS with the concept of experiential learning for marine sciences. Abe Woo received his PhD in Natural History Sciences from Hokkaido University and currently enrolled at University of Trieste and National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS) for an Advanced Masters in Sustainable Blue Economy

Ho-Tu leads the development and implementation of Ocean Outcomes projects in Taiwan, including the research as well as technical support for those projects. This includes engaging with the region’s commercial seafood industry, government and NGOs. Before O2, Ho-Tu had over six years of experience in international affairs and monitoring, control, and surveillance, having worked in the Coast Guard for the Taiwanese government. With a passion for fishery protection and management, Ho-Tu holds a B.Sc from the Department of Maritime Police, Central Police University and an M.A. in International Crime and Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the City University of New York. Ho-Tu enjoys outdoor activities, functional fitness, and photography. 

Kewen Wang currently works as a forests and oceans campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia  in Beijing. With a legal background, she supports the team by reviewing laws and regulations  pertaining to distant water fisheries and drafting recommendations for fisheries management  improvements. Before joining Greenpeace in 2021, she had nine years of  experience working as a maritime lawyer. Subsequently, driven by her childhood aspiration to  “benefit the world”, she changed her career and threw herself into the NGO sector. During  her leisure hours, Kewen finds pleasure in reading and hiking.

Saz is a seasoned branding and strategy professional, known for founding Itch Creatives in 2011 in the Philippines, providing advertising services across diverse sectors, including automotive, beauty, fintech, real estate, and nonprofits such as Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. He obtained a Master's degree in Innovation and Business from the Asian Institute of Management. Inspired by his studies, he co-founded Tindagat, a social enterprise dedicated to empowering local fishers and promoting responsible seafood sourcing. Through Tindagat, Saz aims to deliver convenient, exceptionally fresh, and responsibly sourced seafood while preserving marine environments and uplifting fishing communities.

Patrick Yeung is the Associate Director, Climate Action Platform of AVPN, working to build a social investor network to support climate actions and promote sustainable development. He obtained his PhD in marine biology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2017. He previously led the ocean conservation teams in WWF Hong Kong and China offices, which covered the scopes of marine protected area, sustainable fisheries, ocean plastics and sustainable blue economy transformation, and also joined the Mangrove Conservation Foundation to design conservation strategy and supported the international mangrove conservation collaboration.

Zibo Yu was born in a tranquil coastal city in northern China, where his passion for ocean was sparked. After receiving a master's degree in coastal wetland ecology, he now works for WWF China Ocean team.  His roles include capacity building for domestic marine NGOs, fostering dialogues on Antarctic protection, conserving sharks and rays, and promoting sustainable blue economy initiatives. He’s also been keeping his eyes on gender equity and environmental justice for the past several years. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, running, roasting coffee beans, and brewing drip coffee. He loves the uncertainty and fickleness of life.