Our
Team

OUR SMALL BUT MIGHTY TEAM BRINGS A RANGE OF OCEAN EXPERIENCE BOTH ON AND OFF THE WATER

Peter is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished sailors, a champion across all yachting genres and on a mission to champion the restoration and protection of the ocean.

Peter’s list of sailing achievements spans Olympic gold and two silver medals, nine World Championship titles (six in the 49er class) and three winning America’s Cup campaigns.

He says there wasn’t a ‘single moment’ when he realised he had to do something for the health of the ocean but it was more of a growing consciousness. This was fuelled while competing with Team Brunel in the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race. He firmly believes in the ability for New Zealanders to be world leaders in this space.

A member of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a BLAKE leader, Peter has also twice been crowned World Sailor of the Year. A cool and unruffled helmsman he demonstrates an innate understanding of wind and sea.

Peter continues to strive for perfection on the racecourse, through Olympic, America’s Cup campaigns and with SailGP, the global series raced in F50 catamarans. Along with sailing partner Blair Tuke, Peter is co-CEO of the Black Foils New Zealand SailGP team.

Alongside this, he has melded his passion for sailing with his determination to help safeguard the oceans and raise awareness of their importance to the health of the planet, as co-founder of ocean conservation charity Live Ocean Foundation and its sister entity Live Ocean Racing.

PETER BURLING

FOUNDER

Blair’s love of the ocean has driven both his remarkable sailing career and his environmental mission to preserve it for future generations.

With six 49er World Championship titles to his name, Olympic gold and two silver medals, Blair moved on to step out of a 49er skiff and into new and challenging sailing environments.​​ He’s sailed around the globe, finishing second in a down-to-the-wire finish in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race on MAPFRE.

He’s a three-time winner of the America’s Cup, as the flight controller on Emirates Team New Zealand’s revolutionary foiling catamaran in Bermuda in 2017, and then again racing on home waters in New Zealand in 2021 and in Barcelona in 2024.

In 2021 he embarked on a new challenge, leading the Black Foils New Zealand team as joint CEO with long-time sailing partner Peter Burling in SailGP, the global league raced in F50 catamarans.

A Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a BLAKE leader, and World Sailor of the Year, Blair is also committed to the ocean conservation charity Live Ocean Foundation, and its sister entity Live Ocean Racing, he’s founded with Peter. 

As a keen freediver and surfer, Blair has always put the ocean first. He’s only too aware how much it has given him and understands the importance of protecting and restoring the ocean for future generations.

BLAIR TUKE

FOUNDER

Sally is Live Ocean’s founding Chief Executive and she has navigated the organisation through the development stages, working closely with the founders. Her passion and interest in the for-purpose and philanthropic sector has been honed over the past decade after a background in communications. She has worked for a range of organisations including Blake, where she saw the power of sports people to make a significant contribution to the awareness of  environmental issues. 

Her interest in the sector was further enhanced in 2017 by her studies Australian School of Non-profit and Philanthropic Studies (ACPNS) where she earned a grade of distinction for her Graduate Certificate in Business (Philanthropy and Non-profit Studies). Prior to this, she provided media relations advice to wide-ranging corporate, consumer and not-for-profit clients over 15 years. Sally is also a trustee for The Duncan Foundation. 

Over summer Sally can often be found on Rakino Island in the Hauraki Gulf, where her family enjoy their time living off the grid, with lots of ocean adventures, good reading and amazing views. 

 

 

 

Sally Paterson

Chief Executive Officer

Hannah has worked in the environmental NGO/non-profit sector in New Zealand for over a decade, with a focus on building environmental leadership and engagement. She has experience in programme development and delivery, working collaboratively across sectors.

With a life-long love of the ocean and passion for adventure, it is unsurprising that Hannah’s career has seen her traverse much of New Zealand’s ocean space, including voyages to Rangitahua the Kermadecs and the Sub-Antarctic with the Young Blake Expeditions programme which she created and led at BLAKE. She also worked as a Science Communication Fellow with the Ocean Exploration Trust for two seasons of their Caribbean Sea expeditions.

Hannah holds undergraduate degrees in Law and Arts from the University of Auckland, and in 2019 completed a Master’s degree in Environmental Law – with a focus on ocean health and the Law of the Sea.

Hannah takes every opportunity to be near, in, on, or under the water. She is highly motivated to ensure that the health of our oceans is safeguarded, and restored, so that future generations may enjoy them as much as we have.

HANNAH PRIOR

Programme Director

Jane qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in 1996 and has since gained extensive experience in the corporate sector working in London, Melbourne and Auckland. In 2010 she was CFO at Tower Health and Life, going on to lead the Finance Team at ecostore for four years. 

More recently Jane has become increasingly involved in non-profits and she currently supports multiple organisations including Simplicity, across both their fund management and their charitable foundation.

Outside of her professional career Jane is kept busy with her two sons, and she enjoys cooking, walking, travelling and catching up with friends. She is passionate about the protection and sustainability of the ocean.

JANE GOLD

Chief Financial Officer

Communicating sustainability and building communities across borders has been a key driver for Kelsey throughout her career. She has worked globally delivering strategic communications and brand advice. Her work has focused on climate change and sustainability, more recently bridging the sustainability and financial services industries for Sustainalytics, an ESG research and ratings firm.

Kelsey designed and implemented the flagship movement Climathon for Climate-KIC, a global climate challenge bringing together a community of local change-makers and innovators working to help their cities achieve net-zero emissions. The campaign has won the Guardian Sustainable Business Award for communicating sustainability.

Through her work, Kelsey is only too aware of the need for urgent action to restore and protect our ocean. After supporting a lot of work above the waterline, she is keen to dive in and amplify the importance of our ocean to the health of our planet, and the inspiring stories of those working to protect them.

KELSEY HUNTER

PARTNERSHIP + COMMUNICATIONS

Exploring the connection between people, land and sea has played a pivotal role throughout Elaine’s career. Working with organisations such as Environment Canterbury and FarmIQ, Elaine executed a variety of successful marketing campaigns and outreach programmes, designed to educate, and evoke positive action.

Her marketing and environmental management background inspired Elaine to utilise her skills for the ocean and transition to the non-profit sector.

Raised on tales of her dad’s sailing adventures, Elaine jumped aboard a 420 at her first possible opportunity. With a special knack for capsizing and spending more time ‘in’ the water than ‘on’ it, she eventually traded the boat for a pair of fins. Now a trained scuba instructor, she can often be found exploring the bays around the Hauraki Gulf and Wellington Harbour.

ELAINE HARRIS

DIGITAL MANAGER

Alina’s career spans the corporate and non-profit sectors with a solid foundation in administrative assistance, and a degree in International Relations. She brings the winning combination of strong relationship skills, and an aptitude for numbers and data, to her all-rounder role at Live Ocean Foundation.

Originating from Siberia, Alina’s upbringing instilled in her an appreciation and respect for the natural environment and it’s a theme throughout her professional journey. In recent years Alina has been an active member of the Spirit of Adventure shore crew. She now calls New Zealand home, living on Auckland’s North Shore where she enjoys connection to the ocean through beach time with her young son, and year-round morning swims.

ALINA ROLLINSON

TEAM ADMINISTRATOR

Our
Advisors

Our advisors are an invaluable resource for Live Ocean, providing decades
worth of specialist knowledge, passion and insights.

Dr. Rochelle Constantine is an accomplished biologist, an inspirational lecturer, and a relentless champion for the marine environment. She has led high-profile marine research voyages, achieved feats considered “unimaginable” in conservation science and is credited with inspiring and mentoring the next wave of New Zealand marine scientists through her position with the University of Auckland’s School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Marine Science.

Rochelle’s dedication to preserving New Zealand’s marine biodiversity has produced an impressive and influential body of research which has made a tangible difference. She is currently working on Maui63, a cutting edge,
AI-powered tracking drone which autonomously finds, follows, and uniquely identifies Māui and Hector’s dolphins.

ROCHELLE CONSTANTINE

PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF AUCKLAND

Dr Tom Trnski is Head of Natural Sciences at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum. He leads the development, documentation, research and public access of the museum’s natural science collections.

Tom has been surveying the marine biodiversity of the South Pacific Ocean for over 30 years. He is a world authority on the development and ecology of the larval stage of marine fishes. His interests extend from biogeography of the South Pacific region, dispersal and connectivity of marine populations, and the benefits of marine reserves to sustain marine communities. He has written several books and numerous scientific papers on these research interests.

Tom is Co-Director of Te Mana o Rangitāhua, an iwi-led research programme that will interweave indigenous knowledge and ecosystem modelling, creating management tools. This programme will help to move from sustainability to thrivability of the ocean around Rangitāhua/ the Kermadec Islands, with authority led by mana whenua Ngāti Kuri.

TOM TRNSKI

HEAD OF NATURAL SCIENCES AT AUCKLAND MUSEUM

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© Live Ocean  |  NZ Charity ID CC57006
USA 501(c)(3) non-profit  |  Federal Tax ID 85-1066585
Privacy Policy  |  Terms and Conditions  |  Delivery + Returns

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