Heidi Tait
CEO and Founder, Tangaroa Blue Foundation
Heidi Tait’s love for the ocean stems from 20 years as a scuba diving instructor.
In 2004, she founded the Tangaroa Blue Foundation (TBF) and the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) as a way of not only removing the ever-increasing loads of rubbish in our oceans, but more importantly finding ways to prevent marine debris from being released in the first place. Her mantra is “If all we do is clean up, that’s all we’ll ever do”.
Tait has been on the Board of Directors of TBF since the organization started in 2004 and is contracted outside of her role on the Board to oversee the administration and day-to-day operations of the organization as CEO, as well as assist in strategic direction and partnerships.
She brings a national and international network with her to the Tangaroa Blue Foundation, along with passion and dedication for the organization’s vision and extensive experience on the issue of marine debris, litter and source reduction.
Tait has been recognized for her work, being awarded the Australian Coastal Custodian of the Year 2005 and in the July 2018 edition of Ocean Geographic, she was named one of the “18 Most Influential Women in Ocean Conservation”.
A Clean Ocean: Speakers & Moderators
Steven Adler
CEO and founder, The Ocean Data Alliance and Pre-Vetted Digital Transformation Crisis Consultant, UNDP
Manuel Arias
Ocean Physical Modelling Program Manager, ARGANS France, and Senior Earth Observation Scientist, ICM-CSIC
Gina Bonne
Officer in Charge/Head of the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Indian Ocean Commission
Angelika Brandt
Head of Department Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt
Laura Cimoli
Postdoctoral Researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Colin Devey
Oceanic Volcanism – Research Division “Dynamics of the Ocean Floor”, GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Elva Escobar Briones
Professor in Oceanography, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (ICML) UNAM
Judith Gobin
Head of Department of Life Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago
Simon Jungblut
Project Manager of “FACE-IT” at the Department of Marine Botany, University of Bremen, Germany
Kenneth M. Y. Leung
Director of State Key Lab. of Marine Pollution, Chair Professor of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong
Clara Manno
Clara Manno, Pelagic Marine Ecologist at BAS and co chair, SCAR Plastic in the Polar Environments Working Group
Jessica Nilsson
Chair, PAME, the Arctic Council’s work on Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment
Torben Riehl
Research Scientist, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt
Volker Rieke
Head of “Provision for the Future – Basic Research and Research for Sustainable Development”, BMBF
Alex David Rogers
Science Director, REV Ocean, and Senior Research Fellow, Somerville College, University of Oxford
Vladimir Ryabinin
Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO
Tanja Stratmann
Postdoctoral researcher, Utrecht University & Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
David Vousden
Chair, United Nations Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection