Dr Benoit Goossens   Dr Benoit Goossens is a wildlife geneticist who works for Cardiff University as well as on his own projects. He specializes in behavior ecology, molecular evolution and molecular ecology. He concentrates his efforts on conservation biology, with respect to endangered species in particular.

TBC (to be completed 07/2008) DW

TBC (to be completed 07/2008) RL

Dr Paul O Donoghue -- No 72 -- (Click for more information) I have had a lifelong passion for wildlife and conservation and have worked extensively in this field form the past 10 years. During this time I have gained extensive experience working on high profile, international wildlife projects. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link

Niall McCann -- No.71 -- (Click for more information) Niall McCann has been nominated for earth ambassador status due to his passion for wildlife conservation and the awareness he has created, an example being rowing across the Atlantic Ocean for the Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund. He has written in his own words about his life and what he has succeeded in. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Dr Paul O'Donoghue

Kellie Leigh -- No.70 -- (Click for more information) Kellie Leigh is, at present, a founder trustee for the African Wild Dog Conservation project. During 1999 Kellie spent her time doing full time research, education and conservation work with African Wild Dogs, subsequently founding the AWDC. The AWDC works to conserve the endangered lycaon pictus in Zambia, one of only six remaining countries with large populations of wild dogs. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Rachel Frost

Richard and Margot Frisius -- No. 69 -- (Click for more information) Richard and Margot Frisius set up the Amigos de las Aves, a non profit organization based in Costa Rica, dedicated to the conservation of the two native Macaws: the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) and the Great Green or Buffon's Macaw (Ara ambigua). Habitat Destruction Link Project Link

Hayden Panettiere -- No. 68 -- (Click for more information) Hayden Panettiere is an actress, most famous for her role in the TV series Heroes. She has participated in various forms of activism to halt the slaughter of whales and dolphins all around the world. In 2007 she participated in a confrontation with Japanese fisherman to halt the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. Habitat Database Link Project Link Nominated by Tasha Watson

Steve Irwin -- No.67 -- (Click for more information) Steve Irwin was born in Essendon, Australia on the 22nd February 1962. He was commonly known as The Crocodile Hunter amongst his fans and friends. His parents, Lyn and Bob Irwin, were animal naturalists that instilled a love of animals in Steve from an early age. When Steve reached the age of 9, he was taught to jump in and catch crocodiles in the rivers of north Queensland by his father. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Chloe Joseph

Juan Carlos Antezana -- No. 66 -- (Click for more information) From an early age Juan's love of animals and children was clear. He was raised by his family in La Paz, Bolivia. He decided very early on in his life that he wanted to work in a profession that helped others. Throughout his life he has inspired and created activist groups to become pro-active and protect the environment. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Rachel Frost

Rebecca Hoskins -- No.65 -- (Click for more information)   Rebecca Hoskin has made her name as a wildlife photographer who recently filmed a BBC nature documentary in the Pacific, where she learnt about the horrors of the negative human impact upon nature. The horrendous plastic bag problem that disturbs and destroys wildlife concerned her so much that she decided to take action, with extremely positive results. Habitat Database Link Project Link Nominated by Rachel Frost

Dr Birute Galdikas -- No. 64 -- (Click for more information) Dr Birute Galdikas is a Scientist, Conservationist and an Educator. Dr Galdikas has spent the last three decades working and studying the orangutans of Borneo in the wild. She is one of the worlds leading experts on the orangutan. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Rachel Frost

Jim Cronin -- No. 63 -- (Click for more information) Jim Corin was an international expert in the rescue and rehabilitation of abused primates and the enforcement of international treaties aimed at protecting primates from illegal trade and experimentation. Jim was a major funding partner of monkey world, which is home to over 160 rescued primates that encompass 16 different species. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link  Nominated by Leanne Sansom

Lenie ‘t Hart -- No. 62 -- (Click for more information) Lenie ´t Hart started a seal rehabilitation centre for abandoned seal pups 35 years ago in her own back yard. 35 years later the seal centre has grown to a well-known organisation in the Netherlands, rehabilitating around two hundred abandoned seal pups and sick seals a year. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Merel Van Der Ploeg

Paul Watson -- No.61 -- (Click for more information) Paul Watson was the co-founder of Greenpeace, and has been an extremely important figure within the environmental and animal rights movements. During whaling protests in 1975 Paul decided to dedicate his life to the conservation of whales, as well as all sea creatures. Species Link Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Christopher Polley

Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek -- No. 60 -- (Click for more information) Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek was born in London but grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, where her love of animals developed. It was said that she used to wander the streets of Kathmandu trying to rescue stray dogs. She then came back to England to undertake a degree in Zoology and Psychology, followed by a PhD in Zoology at the University of Bristol. Here she showed an interest in the crossover between animal and human behaviour. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Claire Twyman

Peter Benenson -- No. 59 -- (Click for more information) He started his professional career as a lawyer, specialising in human rights cases. Peter Benenson and a group of lawyers went on to set up Amnesty International in 1961, creating one of the most influential and inspirational human rights   groups that the world has ever seen. Habitat Destruction Link Project Link Nominated by Laura Allright

Edward O Wilson No. 58 (Click for more information) Edward O Wilson has been proclaimed a genius, a natural heir to Darwin and holds a plethora of prestigious scientific and conservation awards. As of 2007 he is the Pellegrino University of Research Professor in Entomology in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Havard University and a Fellow of the Committee for Sceptical Inquiry. Wilson is also a humanist Laureate of the International Academy of humanism. Habitat Database Link Project Link Nominated by Rebecca Roberts

Pieter Gerbrand van Tienhoven EarthAmbassador No57 Pieter Gerbrand van Tienhoven - (1875-1953) lawyer and naturalist, was the original the founder of the international nature conservation movement in the Netherlands. Van Tienhoven studied law and biology at the University of Amsterdam. After he conferred a doctor's degree in law in 1902 he officially worked in insurance, although most of his time he spent on national and international nature conservation.

Nicolaas Jan van Strien EarthAmbassador No56 Nicolaas Jan van Strien (April 1, 1946-February 7, 2008) Dr. van Strien earned a M.Sc. in 1971 at the Free University of Amsterdam, and a Ph.D. in 1985 in Agricultural Sciences from Wageningen University, Netherlands. His doctoral dissertation work, for which he spent 5 years in and walked 3,800 km through the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem, remains the definitive work on the ecology of Sumatran rhinos.

Dr. Richard C. Murphy EarthAmbassador No55 Dr. Richard C. Murphy, or Murph, is a marine biologist, photographer, and a writer but mostly he is a devoted friend to the ocean and its inhabitants. By the time he became a teenager he knew he would be a marine biologist.

Gerald Durrell EarthAmbassador No54 Gerald Durrell - After he left school he became a keeper at Whipsnade Zoo in England and was given the opportunity to travel the world to collect specimens. Durrell had a second, more important reason for wanting to found a private zoo. In the course of many collecting trips to Africa and South America, Durrell had witnessed the loss of habitat and human depredation that was putting many animal species in danger of extinction. A private zoo would allow him to collect individual members of those animal populations and breed them in captivity. When Durrell acquired Les Augres Manor on the Island of Jersey, he was finally able to realize his dream. The sole purpose of this sanctuary, which he called the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, would be to collect specimens of endangered species for breeding.

Shirley McGreal EarthAmbassador No53 Dr. Shirley McGreal, a native of Cheshire, England, stayed in India from 1969 until 1971 then she moved to Thailand. Here her interest in primates grew and grew. When she first moved to Thailand she witnessed primates housed in small cages ready for export. Many people kept them as pets in Bangkok and were sold openly at Sunday market. Dr. McGreal wanted to help these primates. Encouraged, she founded the International Primate Protection League (IPPL) in 1973 with one member – herself (the League now has 15,000 members around the world).

Theodore Roosevelt EarthAmbassador No52 Theodore Roosevelt - His interest in wildlife started when he was very little. By the time he became president, the first big thing he did was set up the Conservation Act. He had saved more than 150 million acres of wildlife. He made laws to protect animals from being hunted and killed. He started the first wildlife preserve for birds. He was known for saving animal species that were almost extinct. He was known for saving the Grizzly Bear and that’s where the name ‘Theodore Bear comes from. Theodore’s actions allow generations today and future generations to see some of these animals that would have been extinct if it wasn’t for this man.

Javan Agesa Madome EarthAmbassador No51 Javan Agesa Madome - (also known as Agesa) began his career as an assistant at a veterinary clinic shared by the Kenya Society for the Protection of Animals. He was mainly interested in cruelty cases involving animals. When a place became available he joined the KSPCA. His first aim was to stop the inhumane slaughter of animals at slaughter houses. With him as leader he brought in the humane captive pistol method of slaughter. Eventually, the slaughterhouses relented and the KSPCA became the overseer of all slaughterhouse compliance in Kenya, with Agesa at the front. He was also responsible for making sure camels exported from Kenya to the Middle East were transported under acceptable conditions

George Adamson EarthAmbassador No50 George Adamson - Born in India, Adamson moved to Kenya when he was eighteen. At the age of 32, he became a warden at Kenya´s Game Department. Four years later, he married Joy Admason, who also had a passion for the lions of Kenya. One day they acquired three lion cubs, but two went to a zoo. The third cub they named Elsa, a lioness who became very trusting towards the Admasons.

Sylvia Earle EarthAmbassador No49 In 1966 Sylvia Earle received her Ph.D. from Duke. Her dissertation was "Phaeophyta of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico" Never before had a marine scientist made such a long and detailed first-hand study of aquatic plant life. Since then she has made a lifelong project of cataloguing every species of plant that can be found in the Gulf of Mexico. With her outstanding achievements her career took her first to Harvard, as a research fellow, then to the resident directorship of the cape Haze Marine Laboratory, ion Florida.

Alexandra Cousteau EarthAmbassador No48 Alexandra Cousteau - the daughter of Philippe Cousteau and Jan Cousteau and the granddaughter of world famous French explorer and filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau. A dedicated environmentalist, Cousteau advocates the importance of conservation, restoration and sustainable management of water resources for a healthy planet and productive societies. Alexandra Cousteau grew up with the ocean, experiencing her first expedition with her father, Philippe Cousteau, when she was four months old and learned to scuba dive with her grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, when she was seven.

Jean-Michel Cousteau EarthAmbassador No47 Jean-Michel Cousteau - a French explorer, environmentalist, educator, film producer, the first son of ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and is the father of Fabien Cousteau and Celine Cousteau. Cousteau was born to Jacques-Yves' first wife Simone Melchior.

Jacques Cousteau EarthAmbassador No46 Jacques Cousteau was born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France, on June 11, 1910. He grew up and spent most of his time around water, and at an early age he began playing around with gadgets such as underwater cameras and mechanical toys. He later joined the French armed forces, and was in the French Navy during World War II. During his time in service, he designed and tested the Aqua-Lung, an earlier invention to the SCUBA systems used by divers worldwide today. His Aqua-Lung was then used by the allies after World War II to remove enemy mines from international waters.

Philippe Diole EarthAmbassador No45 Philippe Diole- French journalist, archaeologist and diver, he went on numerous expeditions on the Calypso with Jacques Cousteau. He wrote many books on marine archaeology such as “The Underwater Adventure” and “4000 Years Under the Sea” which tells how many ancient artefacts are found under the ocean instead of on land.

George Schaller EarthAmbassador No44 George Schaller is a mammalogist and conservationist. He is also a hero to Alan Rabinowitz. Schaller is a well known field biologist who is globally known for furthering research on many animals in Africa, Asia and South America. In 1959, when Schaller was only 26, he studied and lived with the mountain gorillas of the Virunga Volcanoes in Central Africa. Very little was known about the gorillas before his stay there, and most information on them was from gorillas in captivity.

Alan Rabinowitz EarthAmbassador No43 Alan Rabinowitz is a jaguar researcher and conservationist. He first became interested in animals when he was a child. When he was a child, he had a terrible stutter, and in school was even put into what was labelled as the “retarded classes. Eventually he gave up wanting to talk to people and would only talk to his pet turtle and chameleon. Because of this experience, Rabinowitz learned he In 1982 he headed to Belize, where he planned to capture jaguars so he could put radios on them in order to track their behavior.

Michael Pelton EarthAmbassador No42 Michael Pelton is a wild mammal expert, but specifically a black bear specialist. He and his graduate students from the University of Tennessee conducted research on black bears on 16 study areas in 8 southeastern states in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This makes his 32-year study the longest continuous study of any bear species in the world. He has also had a dozen graduate students conduct research on raccoons in Tennessee for 25 consecutive years. Pelton is also a founder and past president of the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA), which is a group dedicated to conservation efforts for bears around the world.

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh EarthAmbassador No41 Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is a primatologist, experimental psychologist and one of the world's leading ape language researchers. Savage-Rumbaugh is the lead scientist at Great Ape Trust of Iowa, a center dedicated to furthering the research of great apes. Currently at the research center there are eight highly intelligent bonobos, recently moved from the Language Research Center at Georgia State University. The bonobos’ now live in 200 acres of lowlands, river forest and lakes with a 13,000 square foot home where they can explore their woods and communicate with the researchers through computer touchscreens.

Elizabeth Kalko EarthAmbassador No40 Elizabeth Kalko is now head of the Department of Experimental Ecology at the University of Ulm, Germany, and a Staff Scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Dr. Kalko has had an interest in plants and animals when she was a child, but was especially interested in extinction of animal species, and how humans effect nature and the environment. She later went to the Mediterranean Sea on a biological study where she worked with bats for the first time.

Darlene Ketten EarthAmbassador No39 Darlene Ketten is a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a researcher at Harvard Medical School. For 20 years, she has studied whales and dolphins that have been beached and helps rescue them on the coast of Massachusetts. Ketten and her team often perform necropsies on the whales they can not save to try and find a cause for the beachings, and to help avoid them in the future.

Nan Hauser EarthAmbassador No38 Nan Hauser is President and Director of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation in the Cook Islands. She also holds positions in many other organizations such as Founder and Director of the New England Dolphin Outreach Project. She has taught on a global level for the Dolphin Research Center, The Whale Conservation Institute and other non-profit organizations.

Joyce Poole EarthAmbassador No37 For 27 years Dr. Joyce Poole has lived among savanna elephants in southern Kenya's Amboseli National Park, studying their behavior and ways of communication. While devoting her professional life to elephants, she has found that elephants use more than 70 kinds of vocal sounds-some so low-pitched they are inaudible to human ears.

Kellie Leigh EarthAmbassador No36 Kellie Leigh is presently Founder Trustee for the African Wild Dog Conservation. In 1999 Kellie commenced full-time research, education and conservation work on the African wild dogs and subsequently founded AWDC. In 2005 Kellie began expanding AWDC's activities into South Luangwa National Park and adjoining Game Management Areas in Eastern Zambia.

Tasila Banda EarthAmbassador No35 Tasila Banda is the African Wild Dog Conservation’s project manager, which is located in Zambia. After growing up in eastern Zambia, then later moved to the United States. She later returned to Zambia , to “make a positive contribution towards practical conservation work.” Before starting work for AWDC in 2007 Tasila was CEO and Lead Scientist for ARUTA Consult, an American-based Environmental Consulting company.

Jane Goodall EarthAmbassador No34 Jane Goodall is an English UN Messenger of Peace, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist. She became famous for her study of chimpanzee social and family life in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. She studied them for 45 years, and later founded the Jane Goodall Institute. One of Goodall’s major contributions to the field of primatology was the discovery of tool-making in chimpanzees. Though many animals had been observed using tools, previously, only humans were thought to make tools, and was considered the defining difference between humans and other animals. This discovery convinced several scientists to reconsider their definition of being human. She also named the chimpanzees instead of numbering them, which was never done at the time.

Dian Fossey EarthAmbassador No33 Dian Fossey (January 16, 1932 – December 26, 1985) was an American zoologist who completed an extended study of eight gorilla groups. The study was in Rwanda, which she was encouraged to go to by the palaeontologist, Louis Leaky.

Katy Payne EarthAmbassador No32 Katy Payne is a researcher in the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University. In 1999, she founded the lab's Elephant Listening Project. She specialized in music and biology at Cornell, and for fifteen years she focused her studies on songs of humpback whales. She also studied infrasonic calls of fin and blue whales until she visited an American zoo and wondered if elephants use infrasound as well. In 1984, Payne and a colleague used infrasound-ready equipment and discovered that they do.

Vidal Martin EarthAmbassador No31 Vidal Martin has achieved a law degree by the University of Valladolid and Univerrsita degli Studi di Padova (Italy). Martin is also President of the Society for Cetacean Study which does research in the Canary Islands. During many whale strandings he has documented that naval exercises had taken place.

Michel_Andre EarthAmbassador No30 Michel Andre is a professor at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), in Barcelona. He is now studying whale and dolphin sounds and the impact of human sounds in the marine environment, and has done research around the islands of Tenerife, La Gomera, and Gran Canaria. In a recent paper, he found that the individual whales in his study group usually initiate a communication by vocalizing a highly-syncopated variation of its usual social clicks.

Sara Heimlich-Boran EarthAmbassador No29 Sara Heimlich-Boran- She researched social structure of short-finned pilot whales off Tenerife 1992, did research on hunting, hearing and hierarchies in cetaceans, and co-authored Killer Whales with James Heimlich-Boran.

James Heimlich-Boran EarthAmbassador No28 James Heimlich-Boran researched social structure of short-finned pilot whales off Tenerife in 1992, did research on hunting, hearing and hierarchies in cetaceans, and co-authored Killer Whales with Sara Heimlich-Boran.

Janet Mann EarthAmbassador No27 Janet Mann- Her main interests are in ethological methods, mother-infant relationships and infant development in cetaceans and primates, evolution, and behavioral ecology. She is currently conducting a longitudinal study of the behavioral ecology and development of wild bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Tonya Wimmer EarthAmbassador No26 Tonya Wimmer is apart of Hal Whitehead´s research team. She recieved her Hounours BSc and Master’s of biology degree in the Whithead lab, University in Halifax, Nora Scotia. She is a native to Nova Scotia and has done research on the movements of northern bottlenose whales. Ongoing research has brought her to the Dal’s Marine Biology program in 1995.

David Lusseau EarthAmbassador No25 David Lusseau - Lusseau is apart of Hal Whitehead´s research team. He has an interest in researching socioecology and conservation efforts. He works at the University of Aberdeen as a lecturer of marine populations.

Hal Whitehead EarthAmbassador No24 Hal Whitehead - He is known to be the world’s foremost expert on sperm whales, and is a professor at Dalhousie University. Whitehead and his team research mainly and northern bottlenose and sperm whales, and study their behaviour, ecology, and population biology while also working on conservation efforts. He and his team “spend periods of weeks at sea on board ocean-going sailing boats collecting acoustic, visual, photographic and oceanographic data.”

Mark Carwardine EarthAmbassador No23 Mark Carwardine is a zoologist, who at one time was affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund, and has been a freelance writer, photographer and zoologist since 1986. He is also the co-author of the book Last Chance to See with Douglas Adams.

Erich Hoyt EarthAmbassador No22 Erich Hoyt has been going to the sea since 1973, and met killer whales in the North Pacific. He has worked for the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources in Rome and has in the past been a science journalism fellow and visiting lecturer at MIT. Hoyt is currently Senior Research Fellow with WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society in the UK and among other things directs the first orca study in eastern Russia (in Kamchatka), a collaboration between Russian and Japanese researchers.

Peter Evans EarthAmbassador No21 Peter Evans is Director of Research for the Sea Watch Foundation, which he established in 1991. He has over 30 years of experience in marine mammal research and in co-ordinating volunteer research programs. His field research is focused on ecological, behavioural and conservation biology studies of cetaceans in UK. He has a particular interest in harbour porpoises, bottlenose dolphins and minke whales, as well as the effects of human disturbance upon cetaceans. He also has a background in studying seabirds.

Robin Aiello EarthAmbassador No20 Robin Aiello is the Environmental Management Consultant/Marine Biologist for Ocean Antics Consulting in Australia, and also does ecotourism work such as conducting marine tourism staff training in marine and island biology and developing interpretive and educational activities for tourists, also conducts community programs to involve locals in the reef environment.

Ken Balcomb EarthAmbassador No19 Ken Balcomb III- After graduating from the University of California with a degree in Zoology, he joined the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam era and did work with sound surveillance to seek out whales. He was chief scientist for the Ocean Research and Education Society of Gloucester, MA in the 70s, and founded the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, WA.

Robert Baldwin EarthAmbassador No18 Robert Baldwin is the leader of the Oman Whale and Dolphin Research Group. The group’s work includes maintaining a database of cetacean sightings and strandings. To date, the database includes over 1,600 reports of sightings and stranding dating back to the 1970s. According to Baldwin, they “use the data to look for patterns, as well as generate maps and charts of sightings to understand distribution, migration and other behavioural models that can help our conservation efforts.” Baldwin also conducts emergency rescues of dolphins and whales on the beaches in Oman.

Roger Payne EarthAmbassador No17 Roger Payne is the president of the conservation group Ocean Alliance. This group collects data on whales and ocean life relating to toxicology, behavior, bioacoustics, and genetics. He is author of “Among Whales,” and won the Earthwatch Lifetime Achievement Award for the film “A Life Among Whales.” He worked with echolocation and was the first to suggest that fin and blue whales can communicate with sound across whole oceans.

Steve Palumbi EarthAmbassador No16 Steve Palumbi is presently a marine biologist at Stanford University. Palumbi conducted the first genetic study of whale meat sold in Tokyo food markets to analyze DNA and find out what kind of whale was being sold. He found numerous species despite the fact that only Antarctic minke were the only species allowed.

Christopher Clark EarthAmbassador No15 Christopher Clark is a researcher for Cornell University. He has collected thousands of acoustical tracks of singing blue, fin, humpback and minke whales to study their sounds. His main concern is with noise pollution, or “acoustic smog.”

Louis Herman EarthAmbassador No14 Louis Herman is a researcher of dolphin sensory abilities, dolphin cognition, and an expert on humpback whales. He is also a faculty member of the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He founded The Dolphin Institute in 1993, which is “dedicated to dolphins and whales through education, research, and conservation.”

John C. Lilly EarthAmbassador No13 John C. Lilly- He devoted his life trying to develop a language between humans and dolphins by using a combination of bottlenose dolphin whistles and human words. This research helped to promote a global interest in whales and dolphins. His work was shown in the movie Day of the Dolphin, and he also helped bring about the Marine Mammal Protection Act. He always had a strong interest in the human mind as well, and created the isolation tank in the 1950s. After passing away in 2001, his research is continued through the John C. Lilly Research Institute, Inc.

Peter Corkeron EarthAmbassador No12 Peter Corkeron- He earned his PhD by studying the behaviour and ecology of bottlenose and humpback dolphins in Moreton Bay, making him the first Australian to get a PhD by studying living cetaceans. He once took a job in a Norwegian town and found that the people he worked for culled in the name of “Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management.” He then resigned his position out of principle. Corkeron now studies how humans affect marine mammals, and also finding how to solve those problems through research.

Mark Simmonds EarthAmbassador No11 Mark Simmonds is the International Director of Science of WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. He holds two honorary posts at UK Universities and is the Chair of the Marine Animal Rescue Coalition. For ten years he has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. Mark's research focus has been the threats that whales, dolphins and porpoises face in the modern world - ranging from ongoing and expanding hunting to over-zealous whale-watching - and such issues require consideration of the intelligence, social and sensory systems of these animals. Amongst his publications is 'The World of Whales and Dolphins' released in October 2004.

Ben Bradshaw EarthAmbassador No10 Ben Bradshaw- worked for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)—minister of local environment, marine and animal welfare. active in fight against Japanese whaling, in 2006 he urged Japanese, with 17 other countries, to stop Antarctic whaling Deputy Leader of the House of Commons; DEFRA minister, specifically cetaceans. It has been reported that the most important issue he pursues in Parliament, is that of marine problems.

Alex Beaton EarthAmbassador No9 . I first volunteered for the Atlantic Whale Foundation in the summer of 2006. I found that a group of young people working together to achieve the common goal of helping this planet is a highly inspirational thing, and this motivated me to return to volunteer again in 2007. This has made me want to go on and become an Earth Ambassador.

Marielle Van Zelst EarthAmbassador No8 Dutch Like a lot of people, I have a passion for animals. Also I know that there are a large range of animals that are endangered because of habitat destruction. That’s why I think it would be really cool to be able to make a difference by being an Earth Ambassador.

Anjali and Andrew EarthAmbassador No7 We are both graduates of McMaster University Ontario, Canada with Honours degrees in Environmental Studies/Geography. We have worked as field researchers at the Smithsonian Institution’s primate project in Polonaruwa, Sri Lanka, the Turtle Conservation Project in Tangalle, Sri Lanka, before moving to Central America.

Panos Petridis EarthAmbassador No6 Greek I am increasingly interested in conservation projects that take a holistic approach involving local communities. One can never achieve a conservation goal, such as the preservation of a pristine forest or the prevention of the extinction of the tiger, unless the project is supported by the local communities. For example, by giving people economic benefits from saving the whales, profit from the whale watching industry overcomes that of whale hunting, so you can achieve your goal and do what's morally right, helping at the same time a big group of people and reassuring in this way the continuation of the project in 'auto pilot'.

Dr Paul O’Donoghue EarthAmbassador No5 I have had a lifelong passion for wildlife and conservation and have worked extensively in this field form the past 10 years. During this time I have gained extensive experience working on high profile, international wildlife projects.

Tina Dura EarthAmbassador No4 American I am 24 years old and i have no idea where life is going to take me. A few things that i AM sure of: i want to matter, i want to make a difference, and I'm thankful to be alive and healthy.

Sarah Jayne EarthAmbassador No3 I have been passionate about wildlife for a number of years. I decided to go back to university as a mature student and accidentally found my course, whilst looking for an animal related course. Previously I have worked in the field of Textiles and design, I am a very creative person. I love Salsa, creating all sorts of things such as cards, Yoga (this is good for the body, but excellent for the mind).

Anne EarthAmbassador No2 Dutch I can’t think of a more beautiful place to be an ambassador of than our own earth, so I’m very happy (and a little proud) to be here on this website, in this project, and on our earth.

Pris Kelterborn EarthAmbassador No1 Dutch Current Project Elephants Sri Lanka