The Darwin200 project is the culmination of a decade of planning and preparations. The epic 2023-2025 global voyage, which is the centrepiece of the project, follows two very successful smaller test voyages that circumnavigated the UK in 2020 and 2021.
Stewart is an award-winning author of over 35 natural history books and presenter of numerous wildlife TV documentaries. He leads dozens of expeditions across the world each year and has discovered 35 new species.
Stewart has witnessed both the destruction of nature and the saving of species on the absolute brink of extinction. He co-founded Darwin200 and is leading this innovative, global adventure. Past projects include organising the donation of conservation resources and books to tens of thousands of schools, libraries and universities.
Andrew is a founder and key supporter of DARWIN200, and serves as chairman of sponsors IMC / Bank of Telecom and the Don Hanson Charitable Foundation. He sailed on the 2021 DARWIN200 voyage around the UK and has helped shape the DARWIN200 programme that will be undertaken during the 2023-25 Global Voyage. Andrew joined the DARWIN200 Board in 2023 and oversees operations and management.
With a diverse international background and a passion for environmental and purpose-driven initiatives, Joost has built a career on developing and managing strategic alliances to drive positive change across various industries. His expertise ranges from forging relationships with Fortune 500 companies to collaborating with innovative startups, focusing on negotiating and executing high-impact partnerships that create value for all stakeholders. Joost is eager to connect with like-minded individuals to explore new partnership opportunities for DARWIN200.
For years, Rolf developed and executed numerous projects in the field of science education and communication. He was science and education coordinator for the project Beagle, in the wake of Darwin, a nine-month voyage and 35 episodes series for Dutch national television. Recently he produced large projects on the UNESCO’s world heritage Wadden Sea and on the ‘father’ of microbiology Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. His focus will also be on the legacy of the voyage creating a growing network of DARWIN200 environmental leaders cooperating globally.
Eduardo is a marine biologist with a 40-year career dedicated to research and conservation management. Throughout his career, he has interacted with students and young scientists providing them with guidance, motivation and support. He has also fostered international collaborations with government agencies, and research organisations in New Zealand and South America. As a manager, he built and led marine, freshwater and terrestrial science conservation teams providing the scientific knowledge to apply in conservation management.
Joe Grabowski is an award winning science communicator, educator, and scuba diver working to inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers. He founded the education nonprofit Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants as a way to bring those on the frontlines of science, exploration, adventure, and conservation into classrooms around the world. In 2017, he was selected as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and shortly after became National Geographic’s first Education Fellow. Joe’s a top 50 finalist for the Global Teacher Prize and is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Royal Geographical Society and Ocean Conservation Trust. He was recently elected to the board of the iconic Explorers Club, having been named a fellow in 2018.
Larissa leads high impact communications campaigns for mission-driver organisations and connects adventure seekers with transformative experiences through her agencies This Chapter PR and Another World Adventures. She’s got almost 20 years experience in ocean conservation communications working with game-changing organisations and inspiring change makers to drive awareness and action to protect people and the planet.
Sophie is an experienced marketing and social media Account Manager specialising in digital campaigns. Sophie has worked closely with key clients over the years planning and executing marketing campaigns to grow their exposure, business and engagement through targeted marketing strategies
With a desire to inspire change and protect this planet, Sophie will be documenting and driving awareness to the Darwin200 project via the use of social media.
Grant spearheads the biodiversity surveys conducted aboard the Oosterschelde during the Darwin200 Global Voyage. Grant holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental History and is pursuing a Zoology PhD. Starting his career in natural history museums in 2015, Grant managed bird specimen collections for 6 years before refocusing on ornithological field expeditions in the tropics. With over 5 years of experience surveying birds across the Caribbean, South America, and the South Pacific, his specialty centers on the biogeography of birds inhabiting Papua New Guinea’s volcanic islands. Famously, the distributions of birds on island archipelagos helped inspire Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Enthusiastic to join Darwin 200’s Global Voyage, Grant seeks to gather data on the distributions of seldom-documented wildlife populations worldwide. His passion for uncovering lesser-known species and locales drives him in his surveys of pelagic birds and mammals. His research for Darwin 200 offers vital insights into their poorly-known geographic ranges and how these might be changing due to human impact. This information is crucial to our mission to conserve marine wildlife.
During your voyage with Oosterschelde you will be guided and catered for by seven crew members on board Captain, First mate, Second mate Bosun, ships cook and three sailors, three office staff, based in Rotterdam, complete the workforce to provide land based support to the ship, the crew and guests. The crew members are experienced ocean-going sailors and hold all the required certificates and diplomas to sell worldwide. The atmosphere onboard is informal, and the crew are happy to explain everything you want to know about the ship, sailing and navigation to make you part of the team
Jane Goodall is an ethologist and conservationist known for her groundbreaking research into the wild chimpanzees of Gombe, Tanzania. Her discovery in 1960 that chimpanzees make and use tools transformed our understanding of the relationship between humans and animals. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute to support the ongoing research in Tanzania.
Today there are 23 JGIs who work to support two sanctuaries for orphan chimpanzees in South Africa and Republic of Congo, TACARE the community conservation programme and Roots & Shoots. Roots & Shoots, founded nearly 30 years ago, empowers young people of all ages to become involved in hands-on programmes for people, animals and the environment in more than 65 countries and inspires the next generation of conservation leaders, scientists and naturalists.
A message of support from Sarah Darwin:
“I am very supportive of this incredible project. Using Charles Darwin’s voyage on HMS Beagle as a framework to highlight environmental change as well as the beauty of nature is a timely and noble ambition. The excellent DARWIN200 team is developing novel methods to find and train two hundred young people to become Darwin Leaders. These young ambassadors, representing two hundred different countries and states around the world, will all have the potential and opportunity to become future leaders in the environmental movement, and to reach and inspire vast audiences worldwide.”
Sylvia Earle is a world-renowned oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with extensive experience as a field research scientist, government official and director for several corporate and non-profit organisations. Sylvia is passionate supporter of the DARWIN200 project. She is President and Chairwoman of Mission Blue, and is a National Geographic Society Explore in Residence. Sylvia was awarded the titles Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine, and was the recipient of the TED Prize in 2009.
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