Meet the Team

Professional biologists and support staff to implement and manage projects and train volunteer divers and crew.

Kathy Young

Kathy Young

Managing Director

Kathy Young, Managing Director of Reef Conservation, is from Trinidad and Tobago and holds a BSc Zoology and Botany and specialised through her training and work experience in marine ecology, She joined the Reef team in 2009 and has over seven years experience in research and project management for marine ecology and community based environmental management projects both in Tobago and Mauritius. She is a certified PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and is involved in the development of all of Reef’s projects and management of the organisation.

Sameer Kaudeer

Head of Education and Training 

Sameer Kaudeer, Biologist joined Reef Conservation in 2008 as Head of Education and Training. He has more than 12 years of experience in the Field of Environmental Education, Education for Sustainable development and Environmental Management.
He holds a Master in Sustainable Development and Environmental Management, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, a MSc in Environmental Engineering, University of Paris 7 Denis Diderot and a MSc in Population Biology and Ecosystems from the University of Réunion. He has been at the heart of the development of Reef Conservation’s education and training programme piloting among others the implementation of FEE’s Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment for the Republic of Mauritius.
He is an MQA (Mauritius Qualification Authority) Registered Trainer in the field of Environmental Management up to NQF Level 8 for 11 years. He was involved in the development of the MQA approved Marine Ecoguide Course for Reef Conservation and intervenes in the delivery of the course in several modules on coastal and marine ecosystems.

Celine Miternique

Céline Miternique

Head of Marine Research and Conservation

Celine is a Master graduate in “Management of Natural Renewable Resources with specialisation in Ecological Engineering” at the University of Angers (France). She also has a Masters in Population and Ecosystem Biology and a Degree in Biology with majors in Organism Biology from the University of Lille USTL (France).
During her studies and internships, Céline specialized in marine biology. She is a certified CMASS level III diver and federal instructor in Subaquatic Biology. She has been working at Reef conservation since 2010 on the creation of voluntary marine conservation areas in the lagoons of Mauritius. This project includes community involvement in the conservation of the marine environment. Celine is in charge of training and sensitizing coastal communities about the preservation of natural resources in Mauritius. She also carries out scientific monitoring in order to evaluate the health status of the lagoon (coral bleaching, fish populations, seagrass beds and control of Crown of thorns).
She is a MQA (Mauritius Qualification Authority) registered trainer in the field of ecosystem management up to NQF level 8 for 9 years. She was involved in several MQA approved Marine Ecoguide Courses for Reef Conservation.

Michèle Marti

Project Administrator

Michele Marti worked as Assistant Administrator for Reef Conservation before joining the corporate world for 10 years. She joined the Reef Team again in 2020 as Project Administrator. She also coordinates events and actively participates in fund raising for the organisation. Michele excels in human relations and administration.

Beatrice David

Development and Communication Coordinator

Beatrice joined Reef Conservation as Development and Communication Coordinator in January 2020 after completing a BSc in Marine Biology and Media & Writing at the University of Cape Town. She is a certified PADI divemaster and is driven by her passion for conservation and marine life. Beatrice coordinates and promotes different projects and develops new educational and sensitization tools for various target groups. She believes that research, education, and awareness are key to the protection of the Mauritian lagoon.

Emeline Bouvelle

Marine Research Project Coordinator- VMCA

Graduate of a Master’s degree “Marine and Littoral Sciences” (SML)  with option “Expertise and Management of the Coastal Environment” (EGEL) at the European University Institute of the Sea, Emeline has always been attracted and passionate by the marine environment. She volunteered in marine and coastal environments and conservation. Certified Level II CMASS Diver, she dives regularly. Emeline joined the research team in December 2017 following her final internship with Reef Conservation. She participates in the different monitoring carried out in the lagoon and the actions / meetings with the community, database management and mapping.

Marine Francoise

Marine Scientist Project Coordinator 

Marine Françoise started her studies in Mauritius with a BSc(Hons) in Marine Sciences and Technology. She then pursued her endeavour, in Reunion Island, to obtain a Master of Science, Technology and Health with majors in Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, specialising in Aquatic Littoral Insular. She volunteered at Reef Conservation while doing her second year of Master’s and also completed her end of year internship with us. She joined the scientific team of the organisation in July 2019 and currently works on several different projects. Marine’s favourite activity is scuba diving. She is a certified PADI DiveMaster since 2011. Driven by her passion about the seabed and biology, she finds it important to make her passion her profession. This is why she is determined to preserve the biodiversity of the ecosystems present in Mauritius.

Francois Baguette

Marine Research Project Coordinator 

François Baguette joined the Reef Conservation team in 2020 as Project Coordinator. He is from Belgium and holds a MSc in biology of organisms and ecology from the University of Liege (Belgium). He has more than 7 years of experience in the Western Indian Ocean and Africa and specialised in endangered species conservation and protected areas management. He is a certified PADI Rescue Diver and is involved in the development and management of Reef’s projects.

Urvashi Dabysing

Education and Sensitisation Project Officer

After her studies in the field of Psychology and her first professional NGO experience at the Mauritius Red Cross Society, Urvashi joined Reef Conservation in November 2016 as Education and Sensitisation Project Officer. She worked in the Bis Lamer and supported the Club Mer project. Since March 2019, Urvashi is now the Education and Sensitisation Project Coordinator leading the Eco-Schools programme for schools in ANFEN (Adolescent Non Formal Education Network) as well as the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) programme.

Eugene Vitry

Eugene Vitry 

Technical Coordinator

Eugene Vitry started scuba diving in 1978 and obtained all his dive certificates in 1996 while working at the Maritim Hotel. At the same time he used to volunteer to help Reef Conservation with their Fixed Mooring Buoys (FMB) project. He joined Reef Conservation as a full time staff in 2008 on the FMB Project where he took the responsibility of the deployment and maintenance of buoys around the island. He also worked in setting up swimming zones on some popular public beaches.  In partnership with Shoals Rodrigues he deployed the demarcation buoys around the 4 Marine Reserves on the west coast of Rodrigues. He then worked at Nauticaz Marine Discovery Center, where he sensitized visitors on the coastal and marine environment. Eugene is now an Educator intervening in Bis Lamer and participates actively with Céline on the research and monitoring aspect of Reef Conservation.

Nathalie Perrine

Nathalie Perrine

Educator

Nathalie has been with Reef Conservation since 2008. She is an avid snorkeller and scuba diver and is passionate about the marine environment. She was responsible of the running of Club Mer Programme. Over the years, Nathalie has also participated in various Reef projects, namely the Bis Lamer project, raising awareness about the marine environment with the community. Nathalie is now intervening in Bis Lamer as Educator.

 sahib

Sahib Eleeman

Educator – Bis La Mer

Joined Reef Conservation in May 2014 as driver of Bis Lamer after working 12 years as a driver for a tour operator. Teaming up with Urvashi on the various sensitisation sessions and activities of Bis Lamer, Sahib is now an educator.


Latest News

Newsletter 2023 - Projects, Programmes & Initiatives


Continue Reading

Comments are closed.