Think Ocean
Think Ocean
  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • What we do
  • Education
  • Technology
  • Circular economy
  • Horizon Mission
  • How We Collect
  • Projects
    • Changing The Fashion
    • LIFE DA-1 Study
    • Volunteering with us
  • Donate
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  • More
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • What we do
    • Education
    • Technology
    • Circular economy
    • Horizon Mission
    • How We Collect
    • Projects
      • Changing The Fashion
      • LIFE DA-1 Study
      • Volunteering with us
    • Donate
    • Support
  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • What we do
  • Education
  • Technology
  • Circular economy
  • Horizon Mission
  • How We Collect
  • Projects
    • Changing The Fashion
    • LIFE DA-1 Study
    • Volunteering with us
  • Donate
  • Support

our team

Hugo Valdes-Vera Founder

Ross Nichols Senior advisor

Noleen Mariappen Co-founder

Born in Chile, Hugo has been an activist involved in environmental cause for most of his life. One of the original members of Think Ocean, which in 1992 started the campaign against whale hunting in Antarctica, creating the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary three years later was as well a founder member of “4mts by 4mts and two handmade cages” wi

Born in Chile, Hugo has been an activist involved in environmental cause for most of his life. One of the original members of Think Ocean, which in 1992 started the campaign against whale hunting in Antarctica, creating the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary three years later was as well a founder member of “4mts by 4mts and two handmade cages” wildlife rescue centre, as he recalls the beginning of their “project” in his city of San Antonio. With effort and commitment towards the earth and the respect and care that all the species on this planet deserve, today, that little attempt of rescue centre is the third largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in Latin America.

After moving to different countries working towards other environmental goals like CITES program in Brazil and Peru, tackling wildlife trafficking and deforestation, he moved permanently to the UK where started his work toward plastic pollution and the effects on the planet. 

He founded Think Ocean in 2021, with two main goals. Educating the new generations to make sure they grow up knowing naturally that we have to take care for our planet and cleaning the pollution that is already in the environment.

Noleen Mariappen Co-founder

Ross Nichols Senior advisor

Noleen Mariappen Co-founder

  Although now in the UK and working internationally, I was born in South Africa, during apartheid, and spent the first 16 years of my life, legally a lesser person. As difficult as things were for her me, I saw how they were even tougher for others and the impact this had on the environment. As a 9 year old I submitted a poem for a compe

  Although now in the UK and working internationally, I was born in South Africa, during apartheid, and spent the first 16 years of my life, legally a lesser person. As difficult as things were for her me, I saw how they were even tougher for others and the impact this had on the environment. As a 9 year old I submitted a poem for a competition, and wrote about a homeless man and the place he lived. That’s what affected me, the inequality, the environment, the challenges… and for as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to make the world a better place, and have actively worked toward this. I worked with non-profits but saw the potential that business could have to scale impact. I progressed my consulting, focused on strategy, operations and sustainability, overseeing multi-million pound projects, working across nations, sectors and industries, and it was while working with impact founders, that I first recognised the power of technology as a facilitator in scaling sustainable development. My belief in the ability to harness the power of collaboration, with education and technology as facilitators to create and scale impact in a way that can make a dent in the social and environmental challenges we face, is what brought me to work alongside Hugo on Think Ocean’s mission. We hope that you will join us! 

Phil Harrison MBE FRGS Senior Advisor

Ross Nichols Senior advisor

Ross Nichols Senior advisor

 Phil Harrison is a leader, adventurer and organiser. He has worked at senior levels with large corporates, start-ups and not-for-profits, helping them create visions, build strategies and reliably deliver outcomes both for the good of their businesses and of society as a whole. He has been honoured by the Queen for outstanding service to

 Phil Harrison is a leader, adventurer and organiser. He has worked at senior levels with large corporates, start-ups and not-for-profits, helping them create visions, build strategies and reliably deliver outcomes both for the good of their businesses and of society as a whole. He has been honoured by the Queen for outstanding service to the community (MBE) and by the Royal Geographic Society for leadership and expeditioning (FRGS).  

Phil worked as Director of The Performance Theatre Foundation, providing a safe space for CEOs and Chairmen of major global corporations to rethink their professional and personal goals. Partners included the Chairman and CEOs from Shell, DNV GL, MasterCard, Tata, Ericsson, Xynteo, Unilever, EDP and the Ministry of Science (China).  

He also spent 10 years working in the global services and technology sectors advising blue chip organisations on how to reinvent their mission, values and strategy. 

He has served as Chairman and Vice President of the UK governing body for scuba diving, serving 30,000 members and 100,000 stakeholders, and its President, Prince William.  

Phil is based in North Wales where he manages a 40-acre British Horse Society-accredited  

livery farm.

Ross Nichols Senior advisor

Ross Nichols Senior advisor

Ross Nichols Senior advisor

Ross is a high level connector to leaders interested in a more human approach to problem  

solving net zero challenges. 

His ESG studio connects leaders to peers further ahead in the journey. In 2007, Ross founded the world’s first executive search firm dedicated to sustainable futures, and now lives at the heart of a highly recommended glo

Ross is a high level connector to leaders interested in a more human approach to problem  

solving net zero challenges. 

His ESG studio connects leaders to peers further ahead in the journey. In 2007, Ross founded the world’s first executive search firm dedicated to sustainable futures, and now lives at the heart of a highly recommended global network of c20,000 people.. 

In addition to his ESG studio, Ross is a Director of Down

to Earth Derby, an independent catalyst for nature-based regeneration in partnership with the Eden Project. 

Ross has worked across the UK, US, Europe, Africa and Asia advising the likes of IKEA, ARUP, Grant Thornton, Ovo Energy, United Nations, Rocky Mountain Institute, World Resources Institute, WWF, Xynteo and Change.org.  

Hi personal passions lie in architecture and design, and  

multiple sports-from sprint  

triathlons to wild swimming.

OUR ACTIVITIES

THE PLASTIC CONTEXT

By 2050, plastic in the oceans will outweigh fish, predicts a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in partnership with the World Economic Forum. The report projects the oceans will contain at least 937 million tons of plastic and 895 million tons of fish by 2050. According to National Geographic, 73% of all beach litter is plastic. The litter includes filters from cigarette butts, bottles, bottle caps, food wrappers, grocery bags, and polystyrene containers. According to the United Nations, ingestion of plastic kills an estimated 1 million marine birds and 100,000 marine animals each year. Additionally, more than 90% of all birds and fish are believed to have plastic particles in their stomach. According to a report from the Guardian, an estimated 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced since the 1950s — that’s equivalent to the weight of more than 800,000 Eiffel Towers. With all of this, only 9% of it has been recycled.


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