Sydneysiders live in a city built around a beautiful natural harbour and bordered to the east by the expansive and biodiverse Pacific Ocean, so it’s no wonder that a strong sense of ocean stewardship is shared by many in the community. Surfers, fishers, swimmers and walkers are increasingly advocating for ocean health and joining ocean care and conservation groups, like the Friends of Cabbage Tree Bay. Join local ocean swimmer and philanthropist Dorset Sutton to learn how conversation, community, stewardship, and philanthropy have come together to create restoration and conservation opportunities along the Sydney coastline through four flagship projects led through the Sydney Institute of Marine Science: Operation Crayweed, Operation Posidonia, SeaBnB - Saving Sydney Seahorse, and Living Seawalls. Speakers will include the leading scientists behind these projects: Dr Ziggy Marzinelli (University of Sydney), Associate Professor Adriana Vergés (UNSW Sydney) and Associate Professor Melanie Bishop (Macquarie University), Mitchell Brennan (Sea Life Sydney Aquarium), Dorset Sutton (Lim-Sutton Initiative) with Costa Georgiadis (ABC's Gardening Australia) moderating.

Dr Ezequiel “Ziggy” Marzinelli is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Sydney. Ziggy’s research focuses on understanding the processes that generate, maintain and impact marine ecosystems. He uses this information to develop solutions to environmental problems, for example, via restoration of degraded marine forests.

Adriana Vergés is a marine ecologist based at UNSW Sydney and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. Her research investigates the ecological impacts of climate change in our oceans and develops hands-on restoration solutions to protect and conserve underwater forests and meadows. Much of her research is experimental and takes place underwater, with a SCUBA tank strapped to her back. Adriana is one of the lead investigators behind ‘Operation Crayweed’, a project that is restoring missing seaweed forests along the Sydney coastline. This project was awarded a Green Globe Award for Impact by the New South Wales Government in Australia in 2017. More recently, Adriana launched ‘Operation Posidonia’, a collaborative project that is developing new citizen science initiatives to restore endangered seagrass meadows in collaboration with Indigenous rangers. In addition to marine ecology, Adriana is very passionate about communicating science to the wider public, especially through films and new media. In 2019, she was awarded the UNSW Emerging Thought Leader Prize.

Dorset Sutton had a long international business career with Colgate Palmolive before retiring with his wife Jenny Lim in Manly. Dorset and Jenny quickly immersed themselves in the natural beauty of Cabbage Tree Bay, Shelly Beach and the harbour foreshores of Manly, Fairlight and Clontarf. Dorset joined the Bold and Beautiful Swim group which swim each day to Shelly Beach and back, exploring the amazing marine life sanctuary we have on our doorstep, kayaking on the harbour and enjoying harbour foreshore walks. Not one to be idle, Dorset was keen to combine his professional skills, his wonder of the marine environment, and his enviable generosity of spirit. The Sydney Institute of Marine Science’s work provided the opportunity for what has become a very unique partnership, where the value goes well beyond philanthropic support, as Dorset and Jenny are quite literally integral to the SIMS team. It has provided Dorset with the opportunity to learn about marine science from a layman’s perspective and empowered SIMS with the dynamic energy of the Lim-Sutton Initiative.

Melanie Bishop is an estuarine and coastal ecologist with over 15 years of experience researching temperate ecosystems. Her team's research addresses how coastal ecosystems operate and respond to changes in climate, coastal development and shifts in management regimes. Her present research has a particular focus on the development and evaluation of engineering interventions that create habitat and conserve native biodiversity in degraded seascapes. She is co-leader of the Living Seawalls Project and the Green Engineering Working Group of the World Harbour Project. Her research leadership and impact has been recognized with a 2010 New South Wales Scientist of the Year Award, the 2012 Brian Robinson Fellowship from the Banksia Environmental Foundation, and the 2017 Jim Piper Award for Research Leadership from Macquarie University.

Mitchell Brennan is a marine biologist and an aquarist at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium (SLSA). He is passionate about marine conservation and understanding the ecology of fish, with a particular focus on syngnathidae – the family of fishes including seahorses, sea dragons and pipefish. Mitchell has been heavily involved with the White’s Seahorse Conservation Project, a collaborative project between SLSA, Sea Life Trust, NSW Department of Primary Industries, University of Technology Sydney, Gamay Rangers, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, and Taylor’s Wines.

Costa Georgiadis is a landscape architect who gardens with his hands and his heart and in 2019 won the Australian Logie award for the Most Popular Presenter. Costa has an all-consuming passion for plants and people - he knows how to bring out the best in both of them, and takes great pleasure in bringing them together.