MADELINE ST. CLAIR | MARINE BIOLOGIST | UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER | EXPEDITION LEADER
Just by looking at Madeline (Mads), you can see that she embodies exactly what it entails to be a free spirit. Her ecstasy for life and passion for the big blue oozes from everything she touches. Mads has sculpted an incredible career path amplifying female and marginalised voices and building an equitable marine science community as founder of Women In Ocean Science, and owner of Blu Wild Sustainable Swimwear & Blu Wild Expeditions.
Seeing the destruction of the marine environment first-hand, Mads transitioned from scientist to advocate, channelling her energy into becoming a freelance natural history photographer/filmmaker, commercial drone operator and digital content creator, Mads primarily shoots marine wildlife and conservation stories. In 2021, Mads also qualified as a CAA commercial drone pilot, and is passionate about using drones for marine research and documentary filmmaking in a diverse range of environments.
After becoming a divemaster in 2017, Mads picked up a camera to begin her journey as an underwater content creator, building up a diverse portfolio if marine life, from the macro paradise of the Lembeh Strait to the remote resident whale shark populations of West Papua. Since then, Mads has worked as an underwater photographer in Ningaloo, Indonesia, the UK and the Arctic, and most recently, has shot underwater for Sky TV and has had her work featured on Channel 4 News. Her drive to learn, investigate and document our oceans has taken her to some of the remotest corners of the planet, and in August 2021, she found herself in the wilderness of Greenland, for an all-female exploration and documentary project, investigating climate change and plastic pollution in the sub-Arctic ocean.
Mad’s is the ‘Education’ category winner of our OCL Storyteller Grant 2022. Mad’s will be telling the story of ‘Plastic X Shark Paradise’, a multi-national, all-female project, conducting pioneering micro-plastics research & storytelling in one of the world’s premiere shark sanctuaries. Spearheaded by micro-plastics researcher, Dr Imogen Napper, Fuvamulah’s first local female dive pro, Hamna Hussain, and Madeline herself, this all-female Maldivian-UK team will use innovative citizen-science methods to collect the first-ever micro and macro plastic data in shark-haven, Fuvamulah.
Image: Matt Porteous
Empowering women from the local community with conservation tools and dive skills, the project will lay the groundwork for powerful ongoing, local-led microplastic monitoring and mitigation, whilst also fusing powerful storytelling with conservation to increase the visibility of Maldivian women in dive and conservation careers. Their key objectives are:
Generating powerful storytelling: utilising film and photography to inspire powerful action and mitigation on the plastics issue, and to increase the visibility of Maldivian women in ocean-related careers and to advocate for local-community environmental stewardship.
Pioneering new baseline microplastics research: conducting the first-ever marine plastic pollution research in the area, establishing baselines and implementing an ongoing monitoring project to understand plastic pollution change over time.
Empowering local women and communities: empowering local women with plastic monitoring skills, tools and knowledge to be stewards of their own marine environment, integrating local knowledge into scientific study, increasing ocean literacy and bridging the gender gap for ocean-related careers.
Increasing ecosystem resilience: increasing community-led ecosystem stewardship and management, leading to increased resilience, protection and longevity of the ecosystem and its natural capital as one of the world’s premiere shark sanctuaries.
Be sure to keep a close eye on our website and socials for updates on this urgent ongoing project.
