Chris Fischer
Founder & Expedition Leader
Chris Fischer, founder of OCEARCH, is extremely passionate about the ocean. After running a successful T.V. show on ESPN, Chris pivoted to ocean conservation. While running his show, Chris came to realize how the white sharks’ health can impact the whole marine ecosystem. Furthermore, there seemed to be a systemic challenge in the white shark research field as scientists often did not have the technical knowledge to fish for the white sharks that they were studying. Seeing this gap between the science and the practical knowledge of skilled fishermen, Chris formed OCEARCH in 2007, alongside Captain Brett McBride.
Chris’ passionate love for the ocean and its restoration is evident. When asked who his favorite shark is, Chris replied Mary Lee. White shark Mary Lee was studied in 2012 and served as an important marker for OCEARCH’s trajectory. Prior to Mary Lee, OCEARCH had been facing challenges to sustaining their mission of collecting data-driven information. However, Mary Lee brought worldwide attention and recognition to OCEARCH which allowed the organization to reach a bigger audience than ever before.
Brett McBride
Captain & Fishing Master
Captain Brett McBride has spent his life on the water with decades of fishing experience under his belt. He has served as deckhand or captain on various fishing boats from Panama to Alaska. He helped Chris Fischer found OCEARCH to assist scientists in safely capturing and releasing white sharks. Brett has drawn on his lifetime experience of being on the water to develop and refine the fishing methods used on OCEARCH’s expeditions and has overseen the capture, handling, and release of over 400 animals studied by OCEARCH.
His love for the water began at the young age of five where he first learned to fish offshore on the 65’ New Lo-An. One of Captain McBride’s passions is spear fishing as he’s entered multiple fishing marlin tournaments and learned how to construct his own speargun from scratch. He constructed his first speargun in high school and has continued to build them ever since.
Dave Stevenson
Captain & Chief Engineer
Captain Dave Stevenson serves as the Captain and Chief Engineer of OCEARCH. After graduating from the University of Alaska with a degree in Marine Transportation, Dave proceeded to work on various Alaskan vessels as the ship engineer and/or captain before joining OCEARCH. Under OCEARCH, Captain Dave maintains and monitors the ship’s operating systems and employs a variety of skills from carpentry to mechanics to repair any damages to the ship.
When not aboard the ship, Dave enjoys spending time tending to his 20+ acre farm. On this farm, he takes care of a bunch of hogs, 6 goats, 10 chickens, 4 ducks, and 2 dogs. He jokingly likes to refer to watching over his farm animals as “Goat T.V.”, “Duck T.V.”, and so forth. However, Dave still enjoys being on the water in his free time as he likes to go out on the rivers and swamps and see a diversity of life from alligators to bald eagles.
DJ Lettieri
Deckboss & Leaderman
DJ serves as a crew member and part of the fishing team for OCEARCH. After graduating from Longwood University with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science with a specialization in wildlife, DJ joined OCEARCH first as a deckhand and then slowly making his way up to the fishing crew. Spending 8 years and counting with OCEARCH, DJ loves being out on the water and searching for white sharks. One of his earlier memories of sharks includes spending a sleepover in an aquamarine as part of a school trip. DJ was smitten with the tiger shark exhibit. He spent all night with his nose pressed up against the glass, watching the tiger sharks swim by.
While on the lift, one of DJ’s responsibilities is to hold the tail rope and alert the crew of any incoming muscle spasms, allowing them to safely distance themselves from the shark during the spasms. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his dogs, fishing, and golfing. Outside of OCEARCH, his goals are to work on his golfing and “figure out what he’s doing wrong on the course.”
Christain Purcell
Leaderman
As a leaderman, Christian plays a crucial role in helping the science team collect data. He helps pull in the white sharks by hand or picks up the slack line. While on the lift, one of Christian’s responsibilities is to aid the scientists by placing the SPOT tag on the shark’s dorsal fin.
As an avid fisherman, Christian loves to spend his free time on the water to fish or crab. After being on OCEARCH’s expeditions, he loves to unwind by taking his boat out to freshwater rivers and catching everything under the sun from red snappers to black sea bass. Continuing his love for the water, Christian recently received his credentials as Captain and is currently working on obtaining more marine credentials.
Dr. Robert Hueter
Chief Scientist
With 50 years’ experience in marine biology and shark research, Dr. Hueter serves as OCEARCH’s Chief Scientist. In this role, Dr. Hueter oversees all of the science projects and resulting publications associated with OCEARCH expeditions. He strives to promote quality research that is done efficiently, with rapid advances that inform policy needs for our oceans.
Outside of OCEARCH, Dr. Hueter is currently working on a murder mystery novel set on the Florida Gulf coast, he enjoys playing pickleball, and he volunteers his time with his local Sarasota community as chair of a committee managing water and wildlife issues in the area. He enjoys traveling with his wife Allie and terrier mix Bailey, most recently completing a road trip of 2,500 miles through eight different states.
John Tyminski
Senior Data Scientist
John Tyminski manages all the data received from electronic tags and oversees the data input on the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker. As an enthusiastic fan of sharing scientific information, John takes pride in answering questions related to the Shark Tracker and discovering patterns in the animal movements. When not overseeing the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker, he analyzes data and continually works on improving the satellite tags to more accurately capture the shark movements.
In his free time, John enjoys spending time with his wife, two children, and labrador retriever especially in the wintertime when he is able to build his own ice rink in the backyard to practice their hockey skills. In the summers, he likes to take his children to go fishing and one of his fondest memories was when his children were able to catch bonnethead and blacktip sharks while vacationing in Florida. John is also an avid foodie and loves to cook and try new restaurants.
Harley Newton,VMD, Dipl. ACVP
Senior Veterinary Scientist & Chief Veterinarian
Dr. Harley Newton’s specialization lies in Conservation Medicine with a focus in Aquatics. Receiving her veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine and anatomic pathology, Dr. Newton proceeded to serve as the Head of Aquatic Health for the Wildlife Conservation Society then as a Veterinary Pathologist for Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment before joining OCEARCH.
Dr. Harley Newton serves as OCEARCH Chief Veterinarian & Senior Veterinary Scientist. Her responsibilities in OCEARCH range from monitoring the shark’s health to administering ultrasounds or collecting blood samples during expeditions., Dr. Newton is particularly interested in stress physiology in sharks and what conditions could induce higher stress levels.
Nicole Ralston
Chief Marketing Officer
Nicole serves as CMO, overseeing the OCEARCH brand and aiding the public’s understanding of how white sharks are vital to our marine ecosystem. OCEARCH’s motto: Facts over Fear is what Nicole strives to convey in OCEARCH’s content to destigmatize and ease the fear around white sharks. Through her role, Nicole and the marketing team operate as the backbone for OCEARCH by publicizing the work that the science team does and actively changing the narrative around white sharks.
Nicole is extremely passionate about sharks because of their important role in the marine ecosystem. When asked what kind of shark she would be, Nicole said that she would like to be a grandmother shark who roams the ocean and explores the depths that have not yet been accessible to humans.
Paige Finney
Communications Specialist
Paige started her journey at OCEARCH when she realized that she could utilize her marketing skills to contribute to a greater cause. After joining OCEARCH two and a half years ago, she actively manages OCEARCH’s brand through social media and public relations. On expeditions, she helps plan and curate content for social media, host press and partners, and produce and plan the team’s weekly video updates. These activities aid OCEARCH in reaching different audiences across different forms of media. Paige’s first shark that she got to see on expedition, Freya is one of her favorite sharks along with Charlotte who is named after North Carolina coincidentally where Paige is from.
Outside of OCEARCH, Paige enjoys traveling and watching sporting events. A fun fact about Paige is that her goal is to finish traveling to all 50 states of the United States, every continent around the world and every US National Park. She’s nearly done visiting every state.
A common theme throughout the interview was changing perceptions. Paige seems to place importance and shows drive towards helping other people expand their mindsets and perceiving new ideas. Through her job at OCEARCH, Paige is actively creating content to help destigmatize the fear behind white sharks and showcase how beneficial white sharks are to our ecosystem. As a dream job, Paige aspires to travel the world with a videographer to showcase people’s lifestyles and stories to enrich the public’s knowledge of the world and what it has to offer.
Avery McAlhany
Content Specialist
As a passionate graphic designer, Avery serves as the content specialist for OCEARCH. She fulfills a multitude of responsibilities including creating graphics for OCEARCH’s marketing campaigns, assisting with e-commerce relations, and designing graphics for exhibits.
Avery’s color palette inspiration for graphic design stems from nature and funky textiles found in thrift stores. Her work in graphic design does not end with OCEARCH as Avery is also managing a print store. Her dream would be to see her designs incorporated into fashion wear and have her prints displayed in homes all over the world.
Aside from creating new prints, Avery enjoys spending her free time with animals whether it be with her first shark, Santiago or her lovely dog Lulu. This love for animals is still apparent when Avery was asked what she would do if she was turned into a white shark tomorrow. Avery exclaimed that she would live a friendly and merry life, making friends with all the sea critters.
Alex Thomas
Education & Program Coordinator
OCEARCH has provided Alex with the perfect mixture of her passion: education and a corporate lifestyle.
Her love for the ocean and wildlife stems from a background of animal advocacy and rehabilitation. From an early age, Alex and her family fostered as many dogs as they could. When asked to give a rough estimate, Alex says she’s helped foster anywhere from 80 to 100 dogs! With her love of animals, Alex aspires to own a homestead farm full of Highland cows, rescue dogs, and horses. Alex’s passion for animals and marine life is also reflected in her favorite childhood movies: Titanic and the Little Mermaid.
At OCEARCH, Alex manages a multitude of duties ranging from operational organization for expedition trips, overseeing clerical operations, and managing OCEARCH’s education program. Alex takes special pride in curating and promoting OCEARCH’s education curriculum and outreach because of her love of inspiring future generations to conserve the planet.
Through OCEARCH’s expedition trips, Alex has gotten the chance to meet white sharks in person. Her favorite shark from the expedition trip is Jekyll. Jeykll reminds Alex of her old dog, Eros because of his loving gaze.
Heather Barton
HR & Accountant
Heather serves as OCEARCH’s HR and Accountant. She handles all accounting for OCEARCH, drawing up annual budgets, and settling contracts with OCEARCH’s partners.
Given her love for marine life and water sports, Heather was fascinated by the conservation work that OCEARCH promotes. Growing up in California, Heather has been surrounded by beaches and spent her childhood on the water such as swimming or water-skiing. However, more recently, she has been enjoying the outdoors and goes camping and explores National Parks. Outside of OCEARCH, Heather has been practicing her Spanish skills with a whopping 145 day streak (at the time of this interview) on Duo Lingo! Her goal is to make it to one year straight.
