Lwayne Boslem
Hey all, my name is Lwayne Boslem and I'm from Ingham which is an hour and twenty minutes North if Townsville. When I was asked to go on the Pelican, which was a day before I left Ingham to Mackay, I had no hesitations of saying no. I really look forward going on the Pelican 1 and learning new things like scuba diving and especially the Coxswain certificate.

Matthew Seaton
Looking forward to:- scuba diving, sailing, swimming, fishing, learning about the marine environment and what’s happening to the coral (learnt about coral in year 7). Also learning new skills like how to operate marine crafts (boats).

Traditional country of Matthew seaton – Matthew is from the Nywaigi nation from around the Ingham areas. His traditional country is approximately north to near Lucinda point (near the southern end of Hinchinbrook island) south to Rollingstone and borders the Seaview Ranges in the west.

Ewan Kepple
I am from Hopevale Aboriginal Community in Cape York. Darrba country is my traditional sea country area. This is the sea near Starcke land. My grandfather comes from Barrow Point, this is Ambiilmunga-ngarra area and my Grandmother comes from Starcke lands.

I am 18 years old. I have been on a boat a few times before. I had my 16th birthday on the boat. I was working catching live coral trout between Cooktown and the Lockhart area. I went to Torres Strait on a boat as well. We catching coral trout that time as well but we didn't transport them live. It was alright on that boat. I didn't get seasick. I went to Mackay on a fishing boat and we worked out of Bowen for a little while. I want to keep working on boats in the future. This training on Pelican might help me do that. I am interested in looking at other marine jobs as well as fishing.

I got two brothers and one sister and I'm the baby. My mum is a bit worried about me but I told her I will be alright.

I hope this trip will be alright. I am looking forward to it. I am looking forward to learning about the boat and working towards my Coxswain's certificate. I have done heaps of free diving before but no SCUBA diving. It will be good to try that and get my Open Water certificate. When I SCUBA dive I can look at the coral for a long time and see what is happening to it.

I am looking forward to meeting the other boys who are also going to be trainees. It will be fun working with other people.

I have a couple of little nephews at the Hopevale school. I hope they will write me an email. If any of you want to know how I am going send an email and I will let you know. Hope youse will follow along too.

Goodbye, Ewan.

Pedar Lawrence
I am currently in year 11 at Cairns State High School. I am a Torres Strait Islander and my Sea Country is Saibai Island. Currently I am doing 5 OP subjects: English, Biology, Maths A, Graphics, HPE and 1Certificate subject: Marine Aquatic Studies. I have represented Cairns State High, Peninsula and Queensland in AFL, Cross Country Running and Athletics Track & Field over the past few years.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2006 part time AFL Development Officer with Cazalys Cairns.
2005 December - one week work experience with Primary Industries Boating and Fisheries working the region from Port Douglas to Townsville.
2005 work experience Passions of Paradise Cairns.
2003 – 2005 Customer Service Blockbuster Video, Manunda.

Frank Baira
I am 17 years old, almost 18. I am a Torres Strait Island man from Badu Island. Badu Island my traditional country, although I have lived all of my life on Palm Island with my family. I am the second youngest in my family. I have four other siblings, they live in Cairns, Townsville and on Palm Island with me.

I am really looking forward to this boat trip so that I can learn more about the Great Barrier Reef. I want to see what the reef looks like way out to sea and I want to see all the animals and plants that live there. I want to find out what is happening to the reef and what this coral bleaching is all about.

I have been on a boat once before, when I was sixteen. I went out for a week on a boat that was catching and transporting live coral trout. That boat was really small and sometimes it got a bit boring. Pelican looks much bigger and there is so much to learn about and some other trainees learning the same stuff as me, so this will be different.

My family are very supportive of me going on this boat. They want me to try new things. I won't get homesick for them because I know they will be here when I get back. This experience may also help me get a marine job close to my community. Palm Island community is starting a Sponge Farm project. With the diving and boat skills that I will learn on the Pelican I think I might have a good chance of getting a job with that project. I am keen to see if this sea life suits me and I can start a job in the marine area.

I hope the students at the Palm Island schools will watch me on the boat over the internet and talk to me often, ask me questions and support me along on my journey.

Keep watching this site and we can keep yarning about everything that is happening on the boat and you can learn stuff with me.

I'll write to you soon.

See you Frank

Paul Marshall Ph.D.
Dr Paul Marshall is the Manager of the Climate Change Response Programme for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Paul is passionate about the ocean and has spent many years studying and working to protect coral reefs. He is a leading expert on the implications of climate change for coral reefs at both the national and international levels. He has published numerous research papers, book contributions and reports on coral bleaching and climate change impacts on tropical marine ecosystems.

He studied science and zoology at Melbourne University, before completing his PhD at James Cook University on the ecology of coral reefs and how they recover from damage. Paul has spent many years doing coral reef surveys; he is qualified as a commercial diver and has logged over 1000 dives.

Johanna Johnson MSc BSc (Hons)
Johanna Johnson is a Project Manager in the Climate Change Response Programme for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. She studied Science at Monash University, but her passion for coral reefs and the ocean lead her to Townsville where she worked for the Australian Institute of Marine Science for 5 years and completed a Masters degree on microbial communities in northwest shelf bioherms at James Cook University. Jo has worked at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for a total of 6 years, and has experience in water quality, environmental impact management, coral bleaching and climate change. Jo also spent a year working at the Centre for Environmental, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science in the United Kingdom gaining experience in environmental impact management and studied the recovery of benthic habitats. Jo is an experienced commercial diver and has completed over 400 dives.

Gillian Goby MSc BSc (Hons)
Gillian Goby is a Project Officer in the Climate Change Response Programme for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. She had an early interest in coral reefs and completed a degree in Marine biology at James Cook University. She has worked overseas as a Project Scientist in the Philippines helping to establish marine reserves. After returning to Australia she completed a Masters degree at James Cook University. Gillian has worked at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for over a year and has experience in environmental impact assessment, coral bleaching and climate change.

Gillian is an experienced Dive Master, and has completed over 1000 dives on coral reefs.

Johnston Davidson MSc BSc (Hons)
Johnston is a Project Officer with the Climate Change Programme at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Johnston has had a passion for marine life and a close affinity with the sea from the age of fifteen, learning to dive in the cold waters of Scotland. A zoology degree at Glasgow University, specialising in marine biology, was followed by an amazing voyage on a square-rigger to Australia, visiting coral reefs in the Caribbean and across the Pacific. The passion for coral reefs has continued in Australia as Johnston has worked over the last 20 years assessing the impacts of Crown-of-Thorn-Starfish, cyclones, water quality, and bleaching on coral communities all over the Great Barrier Reef. Johnston gained an MSc at James Cook University and continues assessing remote reefs, including visits to the Persian Gulf and Mozambique. His expertise in video sampling of sea-floor communities has even led him underwater in the freezing waters of Antarctica.

Katrina Goudkamp
Project Officer with the Research and Monitoring Coordination Unit at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. She has a strong interest in the conservation of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, including coastal intertidal areas. The impact of anthropogenic pollutants on the environment has also been an interest of hers from a young age. Since she completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science at Griffith University, she has worked in a number of environmental related fields including population genetics, water quality, environmental toxicology, and the conservation and management of marine systems.

David Haynes
Dr David Haynes is the Manager of the Water Quality Research and Monitoring Programme for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. David has worked in the area of water quality research for the last 20 years and has specialised in the area of impacts of anthropogenic pollutants. He has published over 60 scientific papers on the impacts of water quality change on tropical and temperate marine ecosystems. David has spent the last 10 years working on water quality issues in the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait.

Andrew Chin
Andrew Chin works in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's Research and Monitoring Coordination Unit. His main role is to put together the State of the Great Barrier Reef report which is the GBRMPA's "report card" for the health and status of the Great Barrier Reef. Andrew also works on a wide range of other projects ranging from environmental impact assessments to collaborative monitoring programs with the tourism industry. Andrew graduated from central Queensland University with a degree (with honours) in applied sciences, and a Graduate Diploma in Education (teaching). After graduation Andrew worked in the reef tourism industry as a marine biologist and interpretative guide and helped out in many research projects as a Research volunteer. Andrew's passion is the study of sharks and rays, and he spent several months overseas on a study tour in the USA and Asia looking at the conservation, research and management of sharks and rays.

Dr Fergus Molloy
Dr Fergus Molloy is a project manager with the Research and Monitoring Coordination unit of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Fergus has had 20 years research and management experience in the marine environment. Fergus' interest in the sea started in Ireland where he grew  up in a small seaside village. This interest took him to Southern Africa where he worked, mostly in Namibia, for a period of 17 years where he played an leading role in establishing and running their marine research station. Fergus has experience in both tropical and temperate marine ecosystems and his broad marine ecological interest is reflected in his research papers, books, book contributions and reports which range from seaweed biology, penguin population recruitment, marine pollution monitoring and impacts on coral ecosystems. Fergus gained his BSc at the National University of Ireland before completing his Masters at the University of Natal (South Africa) and his PhD at the University of Cape Town. As a qualified commercial diver Fergus has logged many dives and undertaken a vide variety of underwater surveys.

Chris Roelfsema
I am working at the Centre for Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Science at the University of Queensland as a Marine Remote Sensing researcher. There I conducted research on coral reefs and seagrasses environments using remote sensing sensors on satellites and airplanes. The main focus is on making remote sensing cost effective tools to help monitoring and managing these amazing tropical marine environments. On this expedition I help with integrating the field information about coral cover and level of bleaching with the satellite imagery.

Dr Magnus Wettle PhD
Magnus is a postdoctoral scientist at the Environmental Remote Sensing Group of CSIRO. Combining a background in physics with a concern for biodiversity issues, he has spent the last 5 years developing approaches for the monitoring of coral health - specifically, coral bleaching - using satellite image data.

David Blondeau-Patissier
David works at the Environmental Remote Sensing Group, CSIRO, as a research assistant. His main research interests are bio-optics and ocean colour. One of the aims of his current contract is to collect field data in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBR) and compare this with satellite image estimates from the new generation of Ocean colour sensors in order to improve water quality monitoring in the GBR.

Dr Guillermo Diaz-Pulido
Assistant Professor at the University of Magdalena in Columbia and a research fellow at the University of Queensland. Guillermo's research focuses on the biodiversity and the ecology of coral reef algae (seaweeds), in particular in the context of reef degradation and global climate change. Guillermo has investigated marine plant communities from remote coral atolls in the Caribbean, the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef.

Garrett Drago
Marine Biologist/Educational Trainer. My obsession with the sea began as a child. I spent most holidays and spare time either in or above the water.

I grew up in Victoria and studied Natural Resource Management in Geelong followed by a degree in Applied Biology majoring in Marine Ecology. These days I am juggling a Diploma in Secondary Education on a part time basis.

During the final year of my degree in 2000 I was lucky enough to gain employment at the Melbourne Aquarium. There I worked as an interpretation officer and as an education officer, today my role there is primarily diving and curatorial.

Williamstown High School in Melbourne is now a major part of my life. Over the past four years I have worked there in a position that enables me to act as an aquarist, education officer, technician and diver, all in a days work.

I am heavily involved with their Marine Science program which we hope will promote the preservation and conservation of our marine ecosystem.

My goal is to educate the youth of today so that the marine environment along with all our fragile environments will be just as spectacular tomorrow.

Garry McKechnie
The Captain (Master Class 5, Off-shore Yachtmaster and a Bachelor of Education) and film maker with a background in the performing arts, community development and teaching. Growing up in Melbourne’s beach side suburbs in a boating family he has been involved with boats and the sea all his life. Since he was a child Garry has dreamed of sailing away to a life of adventure on the high seas. In the last decade he has moved steadily towards making this dream a reality. This project focuses his diverse experience and provides a vehicle for his work in the coming decades. Garry has surrounded himself with a skilled and competent team of people who share his love of the sea and his concern for the environment.

Inigo Wijnen
"Inigo ( Ini for short) began dreaming of life at sea as a 5 year old walking the beaches of his native Holland. He studied mechanical engineering while designing and building his first boat ( a 30ft proa ) in 1991. He has since then clocked up 78,000 sea miles, 45,000 of which were single-handed. In 2001/2003 he sailed with his then 2 year old son, Joshua, all the eastern Australian seaboard and Tasmania.

He has worked on land too and during the war in the former Yugoslavia he worked for the United Nations as a communications technician. He has run his own professional boat building company. He is presently designing a fast, environmentally sustainable catamaran to be used for international voyages to raise issues like global warming and refugees."

Nick Kelly
Nick is on board as both general deck-hand and sailing crew and as facilitator for the collation of the scientific data, photos and stories for the educational part of this program. He has been involved with the Pelican’s builders and their boats for over ten years as crew and general electrical and computer nerd and has been responsible for installing the Pelican’s entire electrics, computer and communications systems. He completed his Bachelor of Computer Science and Engineering at Monash University in Victoria (with honours) specialising in data communications and has been working in data collection systems fields as diverse as the manufacturing industry, the Tibetan Government in Exile and various community services companies for many years. He has done quite a bit of travelling and runs by the personal ideal of: If you can see things in the world that ought to be better, stop whinging about it and get off your bum and have a go at fixing them!

Colin Fry
I bought my first yacht when I turned twenty and before I knew anything about seamanship.  I quickly decided I should learn from the professionals and volunteered with the Canadian Coast Guard auxiliary.  For three years I trained and responded to search and rescue, environmental disaster response and vessel recovery taskings.  Also educating the community in safe boating practices and regulations. I gained employment in a professional manner with Canadian Coast Guard, based on Saltspring Island B.C after achieving requisite certificates. In 2003 I moved to Australia and have been sailing on Pelican since her maiden voyage. I’m looking forward to many more exciting journeys onboard Pelican.

Marina Kouzmin
Dive Instructor I first started scuba diving in my first year at James Cook University. I completed a Bachelor of science majoring in biology and zoology there. I taught diving at Pro Diving Coogee for 8 years, enjoying the opportunity to travel both locally and internationally. I have been lucky enough to lead many diving trips up and down the NSW coast, places such as Jevis bay, Montague Island and Eden on the south coast. Around the northcoast, Nelson bay, Forster, Lord Howe Island and Balls Pyramid, and Byron Bay are among my favourite diving spots. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to come on board Pelican1 for this expedition.

Jayne Russell.
Art Director Film/TV, turned cook for Pelican1 Expeditions. My profession is within the Film/TV industry, working as a freelance Art Director on various TV productions (ABC Kath & Kim, Something in the Air) and feature/short/low-budget films (Crackerjack). I've worked part time with catering chiefs & cooks…as a second job when the film industry is quiet… I have a passion for fresh, healthy and flavoursome food, I like to keep it simple yet interesting .. I enjoy pleasing people and food is a sure-fire way to anyone’s heart.

Jane Curtis
I'm a person who is always up for a change or a challenge. This opportunity is no exception. I am a singer, a painter and a cook. I like to be creative on all levels. Cooking for me is like painting. I use my instinct and knowledge to let myself go and be expressive. I've cooked for the film industry, out of the back of a truck for years. A fully equipped kitchen but in the elements. Hail, rain, shine, day, night. middle of nowhere and now here rockin' and rollin' in a galley with only what's on board to cook with. Being always up for a challenge helps me understand my limitations. Having done these things in my life helps me believe I can do anything.