Mrs. Upasna Mody
Actively involved in mentoring coastal youth, Upasna comes with decades of experience in business development and management and is the backbone of the Ocean Ambassadors Trust.
As an Ocean Ambassador Upasna has dedicated her time and energy to train women from coastal hamlets into various vocational pathways. Many of them now have secured jobs and a stable income, moreover they have become ocean ambassadors influencing and empowering the next generation.
Mr. Jehan Driver
An outdoor pursuits professional with a focused outreach on up-skilling communities into outdoor professions. A knowledgable approach to sustainable practices and the ability to communicate effectively, Jehan mentors Ocean Ambassadors world over by leading a variety of conservation projects. He shares his experience as a course director and instructor in aquatic sports with the youth to promote beach culture with value for sports.
As an ocean ambassador Jehan guides project heads to lead community driven conservation. With a hands on approach to outdoor education he leads diving, kayaking, sailing expeditions with the community to promote the importance of the environment.
Ms. Chinmaya Ghanekar
A wildlife biologist and certified scuba diver currently working on projects involving seagrass, fish, Dugongs and their threats under ‘CAMPA Recovery of Dugongs and their habitats in India.’ She is a recipient of the prestigious DST-INSPIRE Fellowship. With her fellowship, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in seagrass-associated fish in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay region. Primarily, her work includes habitat use by fish, assessment of ecosystem services. Along with Ph.D. work, she is working on dietary patterns of dugong through opportunistic gut sampling. Formerly she worked on several projects concerning Olive Ridley Turtle nesting around the Northern Maharashtra coast. This included habitat monitoring and threat assessment. She has also worked on assessing sacred groves in Maharashtra, which included biomass estimation of existing forests and regeneration of plants.
As an Ocean Ambassador, Chinmaya provides her expertise in the projects regarding seagrass and associated organisms in Palk Bay.