Expedition Leaders
Marine Conservation Expedition in Mexico

Daniel Ponce-Taylor - Country Director - Mexico

Daniel holds an MSc in Sustainable Development of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems from the University of Cádiz (Spain) and a BSc (Hons) Oceanography with Marine Biology from the University of Southampton. Before taking up his position with GVI, Daniel worked as Marine Science Coordinator for CCC and carried out research and conservation projects in Australia, Costa Rica and Mexico. He was also the Marine Biome Coordinator for the WWF/Spain Valencia’s Local Group, where he grew up, and is a qualified PADI Dive Master, Emergency First Responder (EFR) Instructor and a certified boat skipper.

For the past 5 years, Daniel has been working in making sure the coastal and marine communities of the Mesoamerican region remain as pristine and diverse as possible, working alongside coastal communities from Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico and Honduras. This added to Daniel’s native grasp of the Spanish language and his knowledge of cultural aspects of Central and Latin America, makes him a very valuable addition to the GVI Team.

Cynthia Arochi Zendejas - Regional Office Administrative Officer

Cynthia is GVI’s Regional Office Administrative Officer. She is a graduate in Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). While studying her degree, she volunteered for a wildlife group at the university, worked at an ecological park, and was a volunteer for an organization that focused in community development and natural resources conservation. Cynthia holds a Master’s degree in International Environmental Sciences at Lund University, Sweden and recently finished a Diploma in Conservation Strategies and Methods, by the Tecnologico de Monterey and The Nature Conservancy. She has also experience as a French teacher and as Team Building Facilitator. In 2006 she joined Tulum’s expedition as a National Scholarship member. She likes challenges and loves traveling, meeting people, and the knowledge input of new experiences.

Ted Dayno - Expedition Staff

Ted began his diving career in the cold waters near his home in Massachusetts, while still in high school. After developing the travel bug, he headed south for a gap year in Costa Rica, living with a local family, enjoying University life in San Jose de Costa Rica and learning Spanish. Upon returning to the United States, Ted studied Political Science and Spanish at Claremont McKenna, California. As part of a University grant, Ted had the opportunity to travel and work as an intern at a small non-profit consulting company in Chile. The following summer, Ted obtained another grant, this time to work as an intern for a Marine Biologist on the remote island of Tioman. Here he renewed his love of diving and became a PADI Dive master. It was during this experience that Ted became committed to helping save the oceans and its many inhabitants. After University, Ted continued further west out to Maui in Hawaii, where he worked on a sailing catamaran, first as a Dive master and then as a Dive Instructor. Ted is a PADI Open Water Instructor and Emergency First Response Instructor, as well as a certified boat captain. Most recently, he traveled for several months in New Zealand and Australia, before heading south to Mexico to join GVI as a Dive Instructor.

Jamie Hughes - Expedition Staff

Jamie discovered his love of diving on a round the world trip in 2003. He completed his PADI Open Water course in the crystal clear waters of Thailand, on the island of Koa Toa. On the same trip he dived in a number of locations on the Australian Great Barrier and also dived the Poor Knights islands in New Zealand. The diving continued with regular trips to the Red Sea. Jamie worked in Agriculture research for seven years after completing a degree in Earth Resources with Environmental Policy. This career did not compete with the possibilities that were on offer under the water! With this in mind Jamie arrived in Mahahual in July 2007 as a GVI expedition member where he completed his PADI Rescue diver, PADI Dive master course and an Emergency First Responder. At the end of the ten week phase Jamie was offered an intern position. Jamie is also a certified boat captain and he can be found, always with a bog happy smile, at the Mahahual base driving boats or leading fish training exercises.

Hannah Milde - Expedition Staff

Hannah has spent much of her childhood in the water, either in the pool or in the sea in Kenya where she grew up, but it was not until a trip to Thailand in 2003 that she realized her love of diving. Here she completed her PADI Open water Course and continued to dive on various trips to Australia, Vietnam and New Zealand. She furthered her diving experience in Egypt where she qualified as a PADI advanced diver. During this time, Hannah also finished her Sport and Exercise Science degree and went on to complete a PGCE in Primary School Teaching. GVI provided the perfect opportunity to combine Hannah’s two main interests, diving and teaching. As an expedition member, she played a substantial role in the community side of the project whilst surveying and monitoring Mahahual’s coral reef. Hannah also qualified as a PADI Rescue diver, PADI Dive master and Emergency First Responder during the expedition. Alter serving as an intern for 1 phase, Hanna is now a full staff member at Mahahual, where she leads the community work and is one of the boat captains and coral trainers.

Peter Andrew - Expedition Staff

Pete started diving at the tender age of twelve and went on to become one of only three junior rescue divers in the UK. After exploring most of the wrecks around Britain and becoming a BSAC Dive Leader, it was time for sunnier climates. Pete has dived all over the world, including Thailand, Borneo, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Turkey, Israel, Cuba, Fiji and even exotic Wales! In August 2006 Pete became a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer in the dive mecca of Koh Tao, Thailand and now has over 1,000 dives under his belt. Pete is also an Emergency First Responder Instructor. As a certified skipper you can now find him driving and diving with the fish in sunny Mexican waters, where he shares his love for the undertater habitats with the new Expedition Members.

Hew Hamilton - Expedition Staff

Hew is a graduate from Aberdeen University with a BSc in Zoology/Marine Biology in 2005. He has held PADI Divemaster status for 6 years and has helped trained students in the Bay Islands, Honduras and in Scotland. He has also worked as a shark handler in Scotland's largest aquarium Deep Sea World. Hew has been working within marine Conservation projects for several years, starting as a volunteer on a project in Honduras, progressing to giving talks and raise awareness of the marine crisis to schools pupils and in colleges in Scotland. He has just returned from spending 7 months as a member of the Science team on a project with CCC in Southern Leyte, Philippines. Hew is also a professional photographer with a keen interest in aquatic subjects and a certified boat skipper.

Raph Zara - Programme Coordinator

Born and raised in Mexico City surrounded by a multicultural mix of Russian, Romanian, American, Spanish and Mexican family backgrounds, Raph expressed his interest in science and travel at a very early age. After finishing his major in Chemical Pharmaceutical Biology at the Metropolitan University, Raph went on to work within the Pharmaceutical field. He soon decided that being locked up in the lab was not for him and so he ventured north to the US where he found a job as a science teacher in an outdoor education programme in New England, working directly with nature and conservation. This experience motivated him to see more of the wonders nature has to offer and Raph subsequently toured South America visiting national parks and protected areas in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and Bolivia. Raph arrived in Mahahual in January 2007 after successfully applying for the National Scholarship Participant for GVI’s Marine conservation expedition. He learned about reef ecology, the Mesoamerican reef species and monitoring methods during this time, as well as becoming a PADI Divemaster. He was chosen for an internship and gained further experience passing on his new found knowledge to new Expedition Members and gaining experience in boat driving. Staying on as a staff member, Raph has continued to forge strong relations with the community of Mahahual, having finally found his dream job where he is able to combine his passions for science and travel. He also finds the time to share his other passions, Mexican cuisine and Tequila, with everyone who passes through the Mahahual base.