land and sea: my commitment to both

Work at Snipes Farm & Education Center (SFEC)

My work at Snipes Farm & Education Center focused on strengthening community food systems through regenerative agriculture, financial sustainability, and education. As a board member and interim operational leader, I helped guide the organization through a period of growth by aligning mission, programming, and revenue, while expanding food access and environmental education. This work reinforced a core belief that land stewardship is inseparable from community resilience, and that lasting impact requires disciplined execution, transparency, and measurable outcomes.

Conservation Work with World Wide Fund for Nature in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

In Uganda, I worked with WWF partners on conservation efforts connected to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, supporting biodiversity protection through improved agricultural management, specifically coffee, in surrounding communities. By strengthening livelihoods outside protected areas, this work helped reduce pressure on endangered habitats, including critical mountain gorilla ecosystems. The experience clarified that conservation cannot be separated from human systems—and that environmental restoration depends on aligning ecology, economics, and local stewardship.

Discovering the Ocean as a Living System

My decision to enter ocean racing was driven by a desire to learn directly—by placing myself inside the system rather than observing it from a distance. Living at sea for extended periods revealed the ocean as a dynamic, living force that shapes weather, climate, and life far beyond the horizon. This immersion accelerated personal growth while sharpening my understanding of environmental limits, resilience, and responsibility. The ocean is not an abstraction; it is a regulator of planetary health, and being embedded within it has fundamentally reshaped how I think about restoration, risk, and long-term stewardship.

Sailing in the Clipper race, we work with SeaKeepers in research projects that contribute to the marine ecosystem programming. From mapping the sea floor to cetacean surveys, each of our boats have been contributing useful data for marine science.

At Airlie Beach, I also had chance to connect with Reef Catchment and a sea grass cultivation project. An underappreciated system globally, sea grass produces more oxygen than the rainforest, captures CO2, and fixes nitrogen to the soil from agriculture run off.

A Temporary Break to Connect with Silver Wattle

Between these major commitments, I also refreshed some knowledge by to spending time learning from regenerative agriculture practitioners connected to Silver Wattle in Australia. This pause created space to deepen my understanding of soil health, land restoration, and long-term ecological cycles. It also served as a reset—an opportunity to challenge assumptions, absorb new knowledge, and recalibrate where future effort, research, and funding could have the greatest impact.

Working Greening Australia, I worked with local environmental efforts in tree planting in former sheep grazing fields. The importance of wattle trees to the birds and wildlife as rest stops and shade is of vital importance in much of Australia.

Responsibility as a Funded Professional

Accepting financial support carries responsibility beyond participation or performance. As a funded professional, my obligation is to learn rigorously, document honestly, and share insights that extend beyond my own journey. That means reporting progress and setbacks with transparency, connecting sponsors and supporters to credible work on land and at sea, and serving as an ambassador for stewardship grounded in experience rather than abstraction. Funding enables access to rare environments and perspectives; my responsibility is to ensure that access translates into knowledge, accountability, and measurable contribution toward environmental restoration and long-term impact.