Meet The Team.

Gareth is the owner and director of Marine Discoveries. Gareth has spent 10+ years on the Reef and in that time, he has spent more than 2500 days and completed over 5000 divers on the Reef, delivered over 350 lectures, presentations, speeches, and guided thousands of people. Adding to that he was one of the first people to be named a Master Reef Guide.

Gareth believes inspiring, positive, accurate information is the only way to conserve not only the Great Barrier Reef but all of the natural world around us.

Natalie is the true boss (despite what Gareth thinks!) driving the organisation forward and making sure Gareth is in the right place at the right time.

With a mixed heritage of South African, Greek, and Swiss, and a background in photography and travel, she also fell in love with the Great Barrier Reef when she moved to Cairns. She is an avid diver and tries to get in the water whenever she can, if you see her on one of these trips, make sure you point out her favourite fish, the amazing Moorish Idol.

Abby has had a love of the ocean since day one. If she ever went missing as a child, you could guarantee to find her somewhere near fish, even if it was the fish counter in a supermarket! That passion continued throughout her life, becoming a diver at 15, a dive master at 19 and a dive instructor at 22.

Abby studied Animal Behaviour at University in the UK, focussing on fish behaviour. After moving to Egypt to work in the Red Sea as a marine biologist, she completed her Master’s degree in Science Communication over the next few years. She moved to Australia in 2013 and has worked for Marine Discoveries ever since. Her favourite animal in the world are sharks and she doesn’t care what kind! As long as it has teeth and a fin, she’s happy.

Cara was born in Scotland and raised in New Zealand. At age 18 she moved to Australia to pursue her passion by doing a Marine Biology degree as New Zealand waters were a little cold for her. This was followed by a Masters in Natural Resource Management as she was fascinated by the way things were run and how she could help. She originally came to Cairns to escape the winter weather of Adelaide but immediately fell in love with the reef and decided to stay!

She has been diving since age 18 and despite the cold, you could never get her out of the water in her hometown in New Zealand. She is passionate about all things marine biology related, with a special love for the beautiful Nudibranchs.

Tatiana has the (un)lucky bonus of not only being our office administrator but also Gareth’s sister in law! With her background and qualifications in Early Childhood, her experience makes her perfect to wrangle our team sometimes!
 
Tatiana was the first out of the family to move to Cairns after falling for a local boy and the rest of the family followed swiftly afterwards. After 20 years in Australia, she is well and truly a local herself now.
 
Tatiana deals with everything and anything at Marine Discoveries. You will most likely find her behind the computer replying to emails or on the phone trying to organise Gareth's crazy schedule. Her patience and skills make the whole of Marine Discoveries run smoothly!

Gethin is the youngest member of the Marine Discoveries team. The son of Gareth and Natalie, he is following in their footsteps by having already given his first reef talk at school at the age of 6!

Gethin loves nothing more than being in the water and is counting down the days until he can do his dive certification. He gets a little intimidated by the larger fish on the reef as they are nearly as big as him but his favourite thing to see is the spectacular giant clams!

Actings as the focal point for all customer problems, questions or concerns, Storm will steal your heart and given the opportunity, your doughnuts!

When not waiting patiently for Abby to return from the reef, Storm can regularly be found guarding the kitchen or patrolling the visitor centre ensuring everyone is in their place and every place is crumb free.

Harley is the latest and fluffiest member of the team. As Gareth’s sidekick, you can be sure that wherever the boss is, Harley will be too. A regular in the Marine Discoveries office, Harley will be sure to welcome you with all the cuddles you could ask for and definitely makes the office a slightly more distracting place to be!