OUR TEAM
Our teams commitment is to leave the world in a better place
Daniel
Hooft
Founder, CEO
Daniel has over 20 years’ experience in offshore engineering, gained with Royal Dutch Shell in 7 different countries. He has a track record of delivering extraordinary business results by identifying technical and commercial opportunities and acting on them decisively.
Daniel is passionate about the sea and the complex Anthropocene world we live in.
Viviane
Kinyaga
Managing Director Namibia
A qualified marine biologist & water management specialist, Viviane has spent 20 years advising governments, NGO’s, the UN and inter-governmental bodies. Most recently, she has worked with the Benguela Current Convention.
Viviane sits on the board of NamWater. She adores the natural world, its quiet wonder – and empowering people.
Caroline
Slootweg
Co-founder, commercial and communication
A start-up, change management and digital transformation specialist, Caroline has worked at Unilever, WPP, in mar-tech and agri-tech. Her purity of purpose expresses itself as clarity, simplicity and speed.
Caroline sailed half-way around the world and across the Pacific Ocean in the Clipper Round the World yacht race and is also a keen forager and traveller.
Loyiso
Dunga
MARINE BIOLOGY & ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
Loyiso is a marine biologist specialised in mapping, modelling and kelp forest ecosystem threat status assessments. He holds a Masters degree from the University of Cape Town and trained in the field of environmental and hydrology at the University of Western Cape. He is passionate about the ocean and the secrets that lie beneath the blue blanket.
Loyiso also enjoys working on short films about the ocean to bring his passions to a wider audience.
Hugo
Stam
Project engineer
A hydraulic engineer with a masters degree from the Delft University of Technology, Hugo is a dedicated team player. He explored Suriname while working on a project assessing the technical feasibility of establishing a terminal in Paramaribo.
He trained for a marathon, but was thwarted by Covid. So instead, Hugo continues to ensure he plays a mean game of hockey.
Agathe
Bellay
Finance
Agathe has over 10 years’ experience in financial controller roles, and holds a Masters in International Management and Strategy from ESCP Europe.
Agathe grew up in the shadow of Mt. Blanc and is a Qi Gong enthusiast. She studies Japanese in her free time.
Samantha
Deane
Partnerships & Fundraising
Business builder with a career background in international finance. Holds a Law and Economics degree from Durham University. Samantha grew up in Buenos Aires and has lived in the UK and the Middle East, and is currently based in the Netherlands. She loves the arts and being outdoors. Thus far, her favourite place to scuba dive is Bonaire and she’s waiting to find a good place to wreck-dive.
Ferdi
Knoester
Engineer: Intern
Recently graduated with a Masters in Hydraulic Engineering from TU Delft. Built an artificial reef to combat coastal erosion in North Sulawesi and built a bamboo factory in the jungles of Nicaragua while working together with the indigenous Miskito populations.
Ferdi loves to dive and does this in every place he visits (where possible), has run the Rotterdam marathon and completed the Barcelona Iron Man 70.3.
Dr Sunny
Sanderson
Research, stakeholder engagement, environment & communities
A doctorate in political ecology and human geography and a research master’s in biology. Past projects range from studying zoonotic malaria transmission and agricultural land use in Indonesia, orangutan & gibbon ecology, to investigating the impacts of large-scale oil palm development on rural livelihoods in Malaysia.
Sunny grew up by the sea and spent her time ocean diving and exploring the local seagrass beds.
Special Advisors
Prof. John Bolton
South Africa’s Seaweed Authority
Prof. Mauro Sérgio Gonçalves Pavão, PhD
Institute of Medical Biochemistry – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Philippe Burgener
Legal / Financial Structure Specialist
