When the Ocean Speaks

Mandy Kupenga is an environmentalist, activist, and storyteller. After navigating a successful corporate career, she pivoted to mahi focused on healing Te Taiao and making the world better one impactful story at a time.

Rebecca Barclay-Cameron is Ventures Director at EnviroStrat, where she leads the development of nature-based initiatives across Aotearoa. With a background in marine policy and environmental programme leadership, she focuses on practical solutions to complex challenges in the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana, with experience in iwi partnerships and collaborative, multi-stakeholder work.

Dr Rochelle Constantine is a Professor of Marine Ecology & Conservation Biology at Waipapa Taumata Rau - the University of Auckland. She works in collaborative teams using multi-disciplinary approaches to understand marine species and ecosystem interactions. She is a shameless user of large marine animals to talk about important things in the ocean. 

Bianca Ranson is the founder and director of Pōtiki Adventures, an award-winning company that brings together te ao Māori and the outdoors. Her work focuses on creating opportunities for rangatahi and fostering environments grounded in Māori values, with a strong emphasis on cultural connection, leadership and community wellbeing.

Moana Tamaariki-Pohe MNZM (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) is a community development practitioner and environmental advocate whose work centres on kaitiakitanga and empowering communities across Aotearoa. She has longstanding involvement with the Hauraki Gulf Forum and is known for programmes that support cultural connection, sustainability and collective wellbeing, grounded in kaupapa Māori values.