Region: Australasia Scholar Date: 2014 I grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. The marine environment made a significant impact on my life from a young age. Every family holiday was spent on the Coromandel peninsula, New Zealand, making the most of the water—biscuiting, skiing, fishing, snorkelling, kayaking, and swimming. Following
Region: Europe Scholar Date: 2014 Elena is a German/Venezuelan biologist who is extremely passionate about the marine fauna, especially sharks. Her dream is to work towards the long-term conservation of these predators using ecotourism. Although a part of her family comes from Germany, she had the privilege of growing up
Region: Australasia Scholar Date: 2013 Stefan Andrews, 24, grew up in sunny South Australia where the ocean played a major role influencing his life from an early age. Scuba diving instantly captivated his attention and extended his world to appreciate the huge diversity of life that his local waters supported.
Region: Europe Scholar Date: 2013 Chloé Maréchal, 24, of Lyon, France is a passionate diver currently pursuing an Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. Her curiosity for the Ocean started early when reading Jules Verne and watching Jacques-Yves Cousteau documentaries. She started diving at the age
Region: North America Scholar Date: 2013 Jeff Hester, 24, was born in Anaheim, California, and moved to Portland, Oregon, when he was 10 years old. He developed a love for the water early on and would dive for keys, coins or other trinkets at the local pool at the ripe
Region: Australasia Scholar Date: 2012 to 2013 Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society’s 2012 Australasian Rolex Scholar Growing up on a sailboat and circumnavigating the world with her parents until age eight gave Yoland an early taste for the wonders of the ocean, travel and adventure. In her final school year, she
Region: Europe Scholar Date: 2012 Oscar Svensson, 24, was born on the west coast of Sweden but was raised in the middle of the country far from the sea for the first years of his life. Fortunately his family spent every summer at the coast and when he was ten
Region: North America Scholar Date: 2012 to 2013 Megan Cook, 24, was raised in Boise, Idaho more than 500 miles from the nearest ocean. Growing up in an athletic, water-loving family, she developed a zest for adventure and respect and curiosity about the natural world long before the ocean came
Region: Australasia Scholar Date: 2011 to 2012 Anthea Ibell, 22, was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand. From an early age she had ample access to the ocean on holidays, when the family would all head to a holiday house in Marlborough Sounds. Days out on the boat would
Region: Europe Scholar Date: 2011 to 2012 Erin McFadden, 21, was born and raised in the Scottish coastal town of Dunbar and has always found the sea a source of fascination and contentment. Currently a final year undergraduate Marine Biology student at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, Erin
