Emily van de Geer

Growing up on the North Norfolk coast, I spent a lot of my childhood close to the water – or in it. I grew up sailing, playing on the beach and marshes, making mud slides and generally messing about in the water.

Whilst I have worked in various fields throughout my life so far, including community development, administrative roles and as a dressage groom and coach, it’s the ocean that keeps calling me back.

In 2008, I was fortunate enough to spend six months as a volunteer and trainee at the Greenforce Marine Research Station on Andros Island in the Bahamas. It was here that I learned to scuba dive in order to survey the abundances of fish and invertebrate species in the area. With my head under the water in a totally new environment, my passion for the ocean really started to take off.

I also spent over four years on the Kenyan coast with the marine conservation organisation, Local Ocean Conservation as a Fundraising and Management Consultant working with sea turtles, local schools and community groups to encourage the sustainable use of marine resources.

I’ve seen first-hand the devastating effects that humanity can have on the marine environment including sea turtles dying from plastic ingestion and pollution induced disease, tonnes of rubbish washing up on beaches and people who depend on the ocean’s valuable resources struggling to survive because these resources are dwindling. Sounds scary right? That’s because the way we are treating our oceans is scary! But I strongly believe that it’s not too late to do something about it. That’s why I feel incredibly lucky to be working with SAS as Education Officer. I truly believe that education is the key to bringing about sustainable change and that reaching out to the next generation of our society will lead to the protection of our oceans for the years to come.

I absolutely love being on or under water whether I’m kite surfing, sailing, scuba diving, SUPing or snorkelling and I’m always keen to try out new water based activities! I try my best to do as much as possible in my everyday life to reduce my impact on the environment so I eat a plant-based diet, take my trusty reusable water bottle everywhere I go and look for plastic-free alternatives to as many products as possible.