People & Partner Type: Oceana Staff

Esteban’s love of marine life begun from the moment he had awareness of the world that surrounded him. At 2, his grandparents gave him a pet red-ear slider turtle, and since then, he has been committed to the knowledge of nature and its elements. Years later, after reading the full 21 tomes of Jacques Cousteau’s … Read more

Michael Messmer is an ocean advocate at Oceana, leading its federal advocacy with Congress and the executive branch in the campaign to stop offshore drilling. For 11 years, Mike was a lobbyist with Gephardt Government Affairs (GGA), where he advocated across a wide spectrum of issues—from increasing funding for global health initiatives to protecting highly … Read more

Emoke Ciorogan joined Oceana as Web Developer in 2018.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Pedagogy and Piano from Transylvania University in Romania and she holds a Web Development degree from Boston University. She comes to Oceana from Connect For Education, with over five years of experience in user interface design, development, testing, debugging … Read more

Born and raised in Punta Gorda, Darius is a well-known leader of the community having established two successful businesses there – Beya Suites and Belize Information Services and Systems. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management from the University of Belize and a Master of Business Administration from the University of … Read more

Born and raised in Corozal, Ryan’s appreciation for the marine environment came during his course of studies, as he got to experience almost all which the reef has to offer; from snorkeling in the reef to swimming with sharks and rays. Ryan attended the University of Belize where he received a Bachelor of Science in … Read more

Catherine Uden is the Field Representative for Oceana in South Florida. She has been involved in ocean and coastal conservation in Broward County for over 10 years. She has experience in campaign management and grassroots organizing leading successful campaigns to reduce plastic pollution, protect coastal habitat, and ensure public beach access. Prior to working for Oceana, … Read more

Philip leads research and development of new initiatives to reform policy and assesses new geographies to launch Oceana campaigns. He is currently focused on catalyzing policy change by illuminating the hidden harmful practices plaguing distant-water fishing – industrial-scale fishing by one country that takes place in another country’s jurisdiction or on the open waters of … Read more

Juan started at Oceana on February 2018 and he is responsible for the implementation, administration and audit of global network security, as well as the implementation, maintenance and monitoring the functionality of On-Premises and Cloud based solutions. He is originally from Piura, Peru and moved to the U.S. in 2014. He has a Bachelor’s Degree … Read more

Born in San Pedro Town on the small island of Ambergis Caye, Kelsie has always had a deep love and appreciation for the ocean she grew up next to.  Having pursued her degree at the University of Belize in Natural Resource Management, she knew she wanted to gain a better appreciation of the intricacies of … Read more