Name: Samantha Craven
Nickname
Sam, Bams, Bam Bam.
Where do you call home?
My Mum is a Filipina, my Dad is British, and I grew up in Singapore so “from” and “home” are complicated questions for me. I’m working from our Philippines base at the moment and it’s been great to improve my language skills and get to know my mother’s country. I love the organised chaos and relaxed attitude to life.
What’s your background (i.e. previous work experience or education)?
I have a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology and an MSc in Applied Marine Science from the Univeristy of Plymouth. My first environmental job was running environmental education fieldtrips for schools in Singapore and Malaysia. In 2011, I started the shift towards direct-conservation work volunteering for the Thresher Shark Conservation Research Project, Zoox and LAMAVE in the Philippines. In 2012, I started working for Zoox and that led to working with Reef-World and I haven’t looked back.
What inspired you to get into marine conservation?
We taught conservation issues during the fieldtrips and I always enjoyed those activities, Over the years I found myself wanting more and more to use my knowledge to make a difference. I used to think it was for the good of the sea! But I realise now my motivations are based in ensuring our survival as a species, and not messing up one of our most important life-support systems.
What brought you to Reef-World & why do you care about the work we do?
In 2012, I was looking to shift my career from environmental education where I taught conservation issues to actually ‘doing’ conservation. I volunteered for Reef-World’s sister company – Zoox – which provided professional development courses and experience programmes for early-career conservationists. It was the perfect steppingstone, and our work experience was conducting Green Fins work in the Philippines. Afterwards they hired me to work for Zoox, and this led to me also joining the Reef-World team. I remember finishing the Green Fins module and writing to all my dive friends about this cool initiative run by Reef-World and the UN Environmnent Programme! The same principles that hooked me in 2012 keep me doing this work now – we provide the tools to inspire and empower environmental champions to enact change in their communities.
What’s your role at Reef-World and what does that look like?
I’ve recently been appointed Programmes Manager, and it’s my job to ensure that our team delivers on our mission and charitable objectives and keep track of our progress towards our conservation goals. There is no normal day-to-day with this work. As often as I’m in the office doing the admin work that keeps the Charity running and providing remote support and advice to our partners, I’m in the field training new Green Fins teams or meeting with our government partners to understand their needs and goals for sustainable tourism. It’s extremely varied work which is never boring!
What do you enjoy the most about your role?
I love interacting with our network. The individuals, assessors and officials that form the different Green Fins teams are incredibly dedicated and I learn so much from them at each meeting, or training event.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to get into the marine conservation sector?
Conservation is multi-faceted work and it’s a rare University course, if any, that you will finish with all the employable skills you need. So, my advice is to get as much experience as you can – even if it’s not directly related to the field. Transferable skills like project and people management, managing budgets, writing skills etc are prized as highly as the conservation technical skills and knowledge. You need both to succeed, so keep track of your transferable skills!
Outside work, what are your hobbies/favourite pastimes?
I recently settled into a place with a garden. If I can’t live by the sea, I’m going to make my place a jungle! Gardening as a hobby has taught me to slow down and be patient – and that makes the results even more rewarding. I love a good Netflix binge as much as the next person, and I can get lost in books for days.
What’s your favourite marine animal and why?
I love nudibranchs – I just think their biology and evolution is amazing. They evolved to ditch what seems like the most robust safety precaution to me - the shell – and went overboard with flamboyant toxicity instead! I love how much you have to focus on a dive to spot them, and how the number of different species reminds me that variety is the spice of life. Getting into identifying them is like the original Pokémon – gotta catch them all! Not to mention, there are several that look like they’ve inspired Pokémon themselves.
What marine animal are you most like and why?
Oddly, one of our interns coined me as a puffer fish?! Apparently, my face reminded her of one. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Maybe an octopus? Curious, intrepid and prone to mild flare ups.
When and where did you qualify as a diver? What made you want to try scuba?
I learnt to dive when I was 16 at Tioman Island, Malaysia with a dive shop that now has one of the Top 10 Green Fins members slots! That is a nice full circle that means a lot to me. I learnt to dive because I wanted to be a marine biologist, and assumed you had to be a diver (you don’t! But it doesn’t hurt). It was captivating from the start, although it took me a few more years to start diving regularly. Back then I could never have dreamed that my career would relate to diving in this way.
Tell us about your most memorable dive…
My first fun dive after a workshop in Palau, where I had time to really experience the reef. I couldn’t believe what I had thought was a ‘healthy’ reef before, it was a wakeup call to my own personal shift in baseline. It had been years since I had visited a healthy, vibrant, noisy reef full of life.
& one diving destination still on your bucket list?
Just one?! The Galapagos. Or between the continental plate in Greenland. Or Tubbataha. Or anywhere I can see mass coral spawning. The list is still pretty long.
Star sign and how you express it
Oh dear! I’m an Aries and I’m both proud of the traits and actively trying not to let them affect my relationships! Stubborn, always right, can’t ask for help, competitive, attention to detail, loyal, optimistic, planning ahead.
If you could have one superpower, what would you choose and why?
Teleportation – imagine how much of the world you could see!
What’s the strangest injury you’ve ever had?
I got bitten by an oriental whip snake whilst trying to show it to a school group during my time doing environmental education fieldtrips. Part of the work was to breakdown the students’ preconceptions of nature, bit of an ironic injury really! My version of conservation has evolved a lot since then, much less touchy feely with wildlife – it’s against the code of conduct after all ;)
Tell us something most people wouldn’t know about you?
I used to be an awful diver and a very ignorant underwater photographer. I’d be embarrassed by it, but the whole point of our work now is to give people like past-me the information and inspiration to improve. I had diver friends who weren’t afraid to give me pointers and help me feel pride about being a good diver that didn’t touch anything, and we all helped each other do better. Through Green Fins, we are catalysing those conversations and changes in the industry.
