- PANELISTS
Ocean - Track 1
Friday, Sep 1st 10:30 - 13:00
Simon Enderby (Moderator)
Simon has production-managed and filmed from Malaysia to Mexico, Papua New Guinea to Vancouver and Maldives to New Zealand!
Over the years Simon has faced many unique and incredible situations whilst filming – wild saltwater crocodiles, bull Stellar & Californian Sea Lions, killer whales, predatory Humboldt Squid in the Sea of Cortez, South Africa’s incredible “Sardine Run”, great white sharks, feeding tiger sharks, giant octopus, six gilled sharks, humpback whales, wild dugongs & manatees, deep water wrecks and some of the world’s remotest sea mounts have all been covered.
Karenne Tun
Karenne is a Coral Reef Biologist specialising in Coral Reef Monitoring, Restoration Ecology and Management.
Currently the Director of the Coastal and Marine Environment Branch, National Biodiversity Centre, National Parks Board, her work at NParks covers issues related to the management and conservation of Singapore’s coastal and marine environment.
She leads a team that serves as Secretariat for the Technical Committee on Coastal and Marine Environment, an inter-agency committee that undertakes studies, provides technical inputs for policy making, and builds capacity in CME related issues.
Michael Kwee
Michael is the Managing Director for YKnot Sustainability, a sustainability advisory firm providing strategic and implementation expertise to organizations seeking to enhance their sustainability efforts.
Prior to setting up YKnot Sustainability, Michael led the Banyan Tree Holdings’ efforts to formalize and expand its sustainability commitments. Some of these commitments included setting sustainability strategy; evangelizing sustainability by creating and delivering training and outreach opportunities and collaborating with representatives to create innovative solutions and approaches that enhance the social, environmental and economic well-being of all stakeholders.”
Ocean - Track 2
Friday, Sep 1st 13:00 - 15:45
Dr. James Karl Fischer PhD
James is the Executive Director of The Zoological Lighting Institute, a non-profit organization that supports wildlife sensitive lighting for animal welfare and wildlife conservation. He also operates Zoological Lighting Services (a lighting design firm with a focus on fine art and animal welfare related aims) and was the elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects Board of Trustees.
Vanessa Pirotta
Vanessa's PhD research is focused on identifying conservation gaps for cetaceans within Australian waters. She is investigating the types of threats faced by cetaceans and will draw upon international examples of cetacean interactions with anthropogenic activities.
Vanessa is currently investigating the use of emerging technologies such as drones for marine megafauna conservation.
Stephen Beng
Stephen is Chairman of the Marine Conservation Group, Nature Society (Singapore), & previous President of the Singapore Underwater Federation. A prominent contributor to the Singapore scuba diving industry and to its involvement in national marine conservation efforts, his team at NSS sits on an IUCN SSC Specialist Group.
His company Sea Hounds focuses on eco-tourism & youth development, winning the Singapore Environmental Achievement Award 2012, & the National Geographic Dive Centre award for 10 years (allowing the company to conduct effective citizen science program).
Adeline Seah
(Moderator)
Adeline is a biologist exploring creative approaches for wildlife conservation and outreach. She founded Biodiversity Connections, a non-profit dedicated to building transdisciplinary and transnational collaborations between different conservation stakeholders to study & protect wildlife in SE Asia. The Pangolin Story is a project under her non-profit to raise awareness about pangolins. She is also co-founder of the Singapore Eco Film Festival. And loves turtles.
Ocean - Track 3
Friday, Sep 1st 16:00 - 18:45
Simon Bennett
Simon started his career at sea in 1974 at age 17 as a Navigating Officer Cadet. He took a 3 year sabbatical in 1978 to take a degree in Environmental Science. 32 years ago he joined Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO); the arm of the HK based Swire Pacific Limited group that provides marine support services to the offshore oil and gas exploration and production industry.
He now wears two hats: GM for Sustainable Development for SPO and The China Navigation Company, the Swire group’s privately owned deep-sea container and bulk shipping company.
Youna Lyons
Passionate about the ocean, Youna later studied marine sciences and holds a Masters in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington. She is currently also pursuing a PhD with the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at the University of Wollongong titled: ‘Defining and mapping valuable and sensitive marine environments in the South China Sea’.
Youna’s dual expertise in law and marine sciences uniquely position her to integrate these fields for marine policy making purposes.
Vanessa Pirotta
Vanessa's PhD research is focused on identifying conservation gaps for cetaceans within Australian waters. She is investigating the types of threats faced by cetaceans and will draw upon international examples of cetacean interactions with anthropogenic activities.
Vanessa is currently investigating the use of emerging technologies such as drones for marine megafauna conservation.
Jacqui Hocking (Moderator)
She began her career sailing around the world to collect global solutions for climate change with a UN Global Climate Expedition. Now Founding & Managing Partner of VSStory.com, to help visionary companies get more visibility. Also the Founder of the Singapore Eco Film Festival, to bring together stakeholders to accelerate & celebrate solutions.
Firmly believes that if we want companies to change, we need change makers within companies!
Her answer to most questions is ALWAYS POSSIBLE.
Consumed - Track 4
Saturday, Sep 2nd 10:30 - 12:45
Jonn Lu
Jonn is an Economics & Political Science graduate from Columbia University (NYC) & has a MFA in film. He directs, produces, hosts, and leads expeditions on exploration-themed productions. He joined Shark Savers in 2010 as Volunteer Leader, and subsequently became Shark Savers' and WildAid's Regional Director. He runs the "I'm FINished with FINs" campaign.
Kevin Teng
Head of Sustainability for Marina Bay Sands. He leads and guides his teams on: Water and energy resource management, sustainable purchasing policy and supply chain engagement, waste reduction, reuse and diversion and customer support for guests that want a green meeting or an eco-friendly hotel stay.
Madhu Rao
Madhu is the Regional Advisor of the Asia Program within the Wildlife Conservation Society. She is also the Development Coordinator of the Asian Species Action Partnership, an initiative committed to preventing the extinction of endangered species of vertebrates in Southeast Asia.
Her expertise lies in deploying conservation solutions in countries with limited technical and financial resources to commit to such causes. In particular her research is interested in the governance of protected areas, the exploitation of wildlife, and conflict between humans and wildlife.
Naomi Clark
(Moderator)
Naomi developed a strong interest (obsession) for sharks when she was 15, which drove her to get her diving license and eventually an MSc in Marine Science. She has conservation experience from various places – most recently, as a marine conservationist for The Dorsal Effect in Indonesia. She loves visiting countries to understand the 'real' conservation situation on the ground, and she also combines her passion for animals with communication; writing articles and working as a communications consultant for WWF.
Consumed - Track 5
Saturday, Sep 2nd 13:00 - 15:45
Jessica Lee (Moderator)
Jess Lee manages conservation and research projects at Wildlife Reserves Singapore, but possesses a deep passion for all things avian. Jess started out on her feathered journey in 2007 downunder. When she is not out birding, Jess can often be found collaborating with local and international partners on the conservation of threatened birds in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Anbarasi Boopal
Anbu is the Deputy Chief Executive of the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES), which established Singapore’s first facility dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of injured native wild animals and exotic wild animals implicated in illegal wildlife trade. She lives full-time at the rescue centre to manage the operations in general, the wildlife rescue programme and animal crime investigation unit run by ACRES
Rebecca Cappelli
Rebecca decided to quit a successful career to work in non-profit. Now a public speaker, she delivers talks for free to help people adopt a healthy and responsible lifestyle.
A French citizen and a mandarin speaking professional, Rebecca has lived in Asia for over 14 years including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and now Singapore. She works with various non-profit organizations, founded the project Let Us Be Heroes to empower people to become a line of defense for their health, the planet and the animals, and volunteers with Animal Allies.Sandor Weyers
Sandor spent more than 20 years in the Finance Industry working in Johannesburg, New York, Mexico City, and Hong Kong and most recently the Chief Capital Officer for Prudential Corporation Asia. Two years ago he decided to follow his passion of wildlife conservation and founded ElementZ Travel and iDOPT Wildlife.
ElementZ is a luxury ecotourism-focused travel company specialising in Africa as a travel destination looks to provide truly meaningful journeys. iDOPT Wildlife is a technology based platform that helps raise funding and wildlife conservation awareness through its mobile app called “iDOPT” which allows a person to adopt an orphaned endangered animal.
Consumed - Track 6
Saturday, Sep 2nd 16:00 - 18:45
Daniel Tay
Daniel Tay is the Hero of Happiness of the Freegan in Singapore community. He had initially just wanted to save money by getting everything for free, little did he know that he would also end up helping to save the earth by doing so.
Ho Xiang Tian
When not serving the nation, Xiang Tian is the Co-founder of LepakInSG. LepakInSG is an informal group, with the keyword being ‘Informal’. The online environmental calendar is its sole reason for existence, but updating the calendar gets boring, so Xiang Tian plans events on the side to spice things up.
His ultimate goal is to have all the environmental groups in Singapore hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’, but he’ll settle for them working closer together because all environmental issues are inter-related (and also because he’s sure they have no idea how to sing ‘Kumbaya’)Huiying Ng
Huiying explores links between urban agriculture, open/welcoming spaces for new imaginations of urban life, and community resilience.
She has worked in non-profit and research work and is currently developing research on agricultural knowledge mobilities and collective governance in Southeast Asia, as a Master’s research candidate at the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore.
She is part of the Foodscape Collective, a Singapore-based initiative that works to learn about and imagine different food systems, and TANAH, a green place-making collective. She is guided by ideas of ecological and activist citizenship, autonomy and human motivation, and works towards creating the social environments necessary to support these.
Rise Up - Track 7
Sunday, Sep 3rd 10:30 - 12:55
Chris Jensen (Moderator)
Chris is a founding member of Climate Conversations where they support people to to have positive conversations with friends that deeply engage and inspire positive actions on climate change. In the past 8 years, Chris has led non-profit environmental outreach and engagement programs in Singapore & Australia that have tripled in size and reached thousands of people.
Nor Lastrina Hamid
Nor Lastrina Hamid is the Co-Founder of Singapore Youth for Climate Action and #LepakInSG. Both interest groups promote climate action and the environmental movement in Singapore.
Isaac Kerlow
Isaac is an independent filmmaker. His work typically deals with change and the human condition. He is currently Professor and the Art+Media Group Leader at the Earth Observatory, developing creative projects inspired by Earth science and natural hazards. Some of his recent films: Ichiro and the Wave (2016), CHANGE (2016), Time Rojak (2015) and SHADOWS (2014).
He is one of the pioneers of computer animation and worked at The Walt Disney Company for 10 years. He is also the author of The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects.
Adam Switzer
Adam is an Assoc Prof & Assoc Chair at the Asian School of the Environment, & PI at Earth Observatory of Singapore, NTU. His research concerns coastal change, which aims to improve understanding of the dynamics of the coastal system by quantitatively investigating the main drivers of past coastal change as a guide to the future.
He was the project leader of International Geoscience Programme 588, a successful global project on coastal change. He is currently an Associate Editor of Geoscience Letters, and was the first Earth scientist to receive the NRF fellowship.
Rise Up - Track 8
Sunday, Sep 3rd 13:00 - 15:45
Robin Hicks (Moderator)
Robin has spent a decade living and working in Asia Pacific, including Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore, and has 17 years of experience in journalism, writing about business, government, environmental issues and the media.
He is currently the Deputy Editor of Eco-Business, where he reports on sustainability news across Asia Pacific as well as manages Eco-Business's network of writers across the region.
Robin has a degree in Zoology from the University of Bristol in the UK, and spends his weekends as a volunteer for Singapore animal welfare charity ACRES.
Raye Padit
Raye started his career in fashion 4 years ago. Discovering that the fashion industry is highly pollutive, he founded Connected Threads Asia, a non-profit organization that promotes and advances sustainable fashion, bringing awareness around the social and environmental impacts of fast fashion. He is also a team member of Fashion Revolution a global movement that started in London, to call out for more transparency in the fashion industry.
Cheryl Lee
Cheryl is a Youth Environmentalist and advocate, awarded the HSBC NYAA Youth Environmental Award by the Singapore National Youth Achievement Council and HSBC in 2016 and a recipient for a full scholarship for a Youth Leadership in Environmental issue Fellowship program by the US State of Department.
She believes that doing good is contagious & takes action by working closely with the community for environmental and gender equality rights.
She is enthusiastic in taking Climate action, women empowerment and educational equality.
#Up2degrees - Community Engagement Lead
Eugene Tay
Eugene is the Executive Director of Zero Waste SG, a NGO dedicated to help Singapore accelerate the shift towards zero waste and the circular economy.
Zero Waste SG aims to promote education and engagement on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) among individuals and households; advocate waste minimisation and recycling among businesses and organisations; and reduce specific waste such as plastic disposables and food waste.
Rise Up - Track 8
Sunday, Sep 3rd 16:00 - 18:45
Mayur Singh (Moderator)
Mayur is the cofounder of Coopita. With almost a decade of experience in investments, turnarounds and building new businesses for corporates, Mayur’s passion to create a business with social and environmental impact combined with his love for Asian crafts prompted him to co-found Coopita.
David Christian
David Christian is an innovative entrepreneur with a business background in Canada. He is passionate about sustainable and impactful business on environmental issues. Currently, he is the Head of Micro Business and Creative Industry in Indonesian Local Entrepreneur Organizations chapter Central Jakarta and Head of Natural Resources, Energy & Environment in Indonesian Young Entrepreneur Organization chapter West Jakarta. He also cofounded and Chief of Sales, Marketing and Impact for Evoware, a socially responsible enterprise that elevates environmentally friendly lifestyle.
Ng Pei Kang
Pei Kang believes design has the ability to inspire change. He runs a design consultancy firm, Geometria, and is also the founder of TRIA, a packaging house specialising in innovative and sustainable food packaging. TRIA's breakthrough technology, Bio24, is a closed-loop system for disposable foodware and food waste. The system turns disposable foodware and food waste into fertiliser in just 24 hours, a world’s first.
Olivia Choong
Olivia is the President and Co-founder of Green Drinks (Singapore), and sits on the board of advisors at youth environmental NGO, Avelife.
In 2013, she received the National Environment Agency’s EcoFriend Award in the Non-governmental Organisations and Grassroots volunteers category.
In 2014, she received the Junior Chamber International’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World Singapore merit award in the category of Moral and/or Environmental Leadership.
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