The Team

David Doubilet

David Doubilet is honored to have his underwater imagery considered to be among the best by editors, peers and colleagues the world over.  He has photographed over 60 stories for the National Geographic Magazine where he is currently a Contributing Photographer-in-Residence. David has documented our changing underwater world since his first assignment with the Geographic in 1971. In addition to the Geographic, David’s work continues to appear in countless publications worldwide and he is a contributing editor and feature columnists for the Behind the Shot in Sport Diver Magazine (US) and Seascapes and Dive Magazine (UK).

Jennifer Hayes

Jennifer Hayes is an aquatic ecologist who has collected a couple of graduate degrees in zoology, marine and fisheries biology. She came into underwater journalism (photography and writing) out of sheer necessity to enliven dull scientific presentations and publications. To put it simply, strong images of ancient sturgeons spawning, hatching, migrating are infinitely more captivating to an audience than bar graphs and pie charts. Photography and science lead to natural history articles and then into popular journalism. Jennifer formed a partnership with David Doubilet in 1999 and co-founded the stock photo company, Undersea Images Inc. Jennifer and David co-photograph and write for assignment features for numerous domestic and international publications, ad shoots and book projects.

Sylvia Earle

Sylvia Earle is a name of many achievements. It is a name that is synonymous with "Her Deepness", "the Living Legend" and "the First Hero for the Planet", to name a few. But as humble as she is heroic, she is not one to be preoccupied with material wealth or apparent fame. Coined as the true ambassador of our world's oceans, Sylvia is an oceanographer, explorer, author and a lecturer with an insatiable passion for underwater exploration and marine conservation. As of today, she has already led more than 60 expeditions worldwide and logged more than 7,000 hours underwater. Adding to her list of accomplishments, Sylvia has authored more than 150 publications including Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans and Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas, and currently holds the record for a solo dive to an astonishing depth of 1,005 metres into the deep blue. No small feat. She is now 75 years old.

Dr. Elizabeth Quat 

 Dr. Elizabeth Quat (EQ), born and living in Hong Kong, is an expert in information technology industry. She is the founder of two NGOs: Internet Professional Association and Energy Saving Concern Alliance. She is a well known social entrepreneur, one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” and “Ten Outstanding Young Digi Persons” in 2001, “The Most Successful Women” in 2002, and “One Hundred Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs in China” in 2006. EQ’s versatility and passion for life began at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts where she majored in dancing. She began scuba diving in 1992, started learning underwater photography in 1997, and is a certified PADI Scuba Diving Instructor since 1998. EQ has been a vegetarian for 22 years.

Alex Hofford

Alex Hofford is a photojournalist based in Hong Kong, where he has lived for over a decade, using the city as a base to cover stories in Greater China. He is also the regional representative for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA). Since arriving in Hong Kong in 1998, Alex has carried out hundreds of editorial assignments across the region, having worked mainly in Asia, but also in the Middle East and Africa. During this time, Alex has built up a large digital stock library of documentary images. Much of Alex’s work focuses on environmental issues. He has been on numerous assignments in the Pacific Ocean for Greenpeace covering the problems of marine pollution, shark finning and over-fishing.

Michael Aw

Michael AW is the founding director of OceanNEnvironment, a charity organization listed with the Registrar of Environment Australia. Pursuing the art form of documentary photography, Michael AW is well known for his saturated colour imagery. His work on environmental issues and natural history, have been featured in BBC Wildlife, National Geographic, Asian Geographic, GEO, Underwater GEOGRAPHIC, Nature Focus, Action Asia, Scuba Diver, Smithsonian magazine, Ocean Realm (USA), Times, Asia Week, DIVE, Unterwasser, Tauchen, and Aquanaut, to name but a few. His photographs have received more than 60 awards from several international organizations including the prestigious Nikon International Photo Contest on three occasions. In 2010, he was a recipient of the WYLAND ICON award for Conservation. He is also a recipient of three awards from the Natural History Museum BBC Photographer of the Year Wildlife Competition in 2000. 2010 and in 2006 he won the Best Winner award in the underwater category.

Audrey Lee

Audrey Lee's love affair with the ocean began when she was 10. Not even three near-drowning experiences would come in between her and the wonders of the aquatic life. An avid environmental activist, frequent traveller and aspiring trendsetter, Audrey is a 22-year-old freelance journalist and graphic designer based in Singapore. She recently graduated from University of Technology, Sydney, with a Bachelor Degree of Arts in Communication (Journalism) tucked tightly under her belt. Her influences come from all walks of life, backgrounds and times, where she strives to continue exploring more of the world while capturing thought-provoking issues to put pen to paper.

Verna Lee

Verna Lee is a NAUI SCUBA diving instructor and is among the first batch of Marine Conservation Instructors in Hong Kong. Her teaching philosophy is “to protect our One Ocean means protecting our own health”. She promoted the beauty of the seas through her writings for the underwater photo exhibitions of Mr. Denny Wong in Hong Kong Cultural Centre, and in EZDIVE magazine. She also advocated the marine conservation and shark protection messages to both local and international schools’ students. Verna has been nurturing divers annually for the past 11 years. Students are of 14 nationalities, ranging from beginners to instructor candidates.

Benita Chick

Benita Chick got her NAUI Dive Instructor license at age 18 and went on to study undergrad in biology at Cornell University, during which she spent a year at the world-renowned marine biology institute, James Cook University.  She subsequently pursued Master studies at Boston University in genetic research on sea cucumbers in Indonesia.  While Benita no longer actively conducts academic researches, she applies her marine biology knowledge and scuba diving skills to teach coral reef biology and conservation to local youngsters.