Our Team

Mohamed Nasheed was the Maldives’ first democratically elected president. He remains a figurehead for the promotion of human rights and democracy in Islamic countries, and an international icon for action against climate change.

President Nasheed is currently Speaker of the People’s Majis (parliament), a position he was elected to in May 2019.

A former human rights activist, Nasheed led a campaign of non-violent, civil disobedience that pressured Maumoon Gayoom, then Asia’s longest-serving ruler, to relax authoritarian controls and allow political pluralism. In historic democratic polls in 2008, Nasheed was elected president, sweeping away 30 years of one-man rule.

During his time in office and thereafter, Nasheed has played a prominent global role advocating for action to curb greenhouse gas emissions that threaten his nation. In 2009, to highlight the Maldives’ vulnerability to rising sea levels, Nasheed famously held a meeting of his cabinet underwater. Nasheed also implemented policies to turn the Maldives into the world’s first carbon neutral country.

Nasheed won the 2009 Anna Lindh Prize, in recognition of his work promoting human rights, democracy and environmental protection. In September 2009, Time Magazine declared Nasheed a ‘Hero of the Environment’. In April 2010, the United Nations presented Nasheed with its ‘Champions of the Earth’ environment award. In August 2010, Newsweek named Nasheed in its list of ‘World’s Ten Best Leaders’. In 2012, The Island President, a documentary feature film about Nasheed, was released in theatres worldwide.

In June 2012, Nasheed was presented with the James Lawson Award for the practice of non-violent action. In November 2014, Nasheed was presented the Mission Blue Award, which Dr. Sylvia Earle honoured for his distinguished work on climate change advocacy. Nasheed was bestowed the ‘2017 Courage Award’ in February 2017 by a coalition of 25 international human rights groups at the 9th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.

Aya is a marine biologist from the Maldives. Since the establishment of the Maldives Coral Institute in 2019, she has developed and managed conservation and advocacy projects, raising public awareness and negotiating with stakeholders, local communities and international organisations for the preservation of coral reefs in the Maldives.

Aya studied Marine Biology and Zoology at the University of Queensland, with Honors in Marine Microbiology. She has previously worked independently and held positions at local consultancies Seamarc Pvt Ltd as Coordinator, and at ReefTAC Maldives Pvt Ltd as Director. Her roles included coordinating and conducting Environmental Impact Assessments and marine surveys. Aya has worked on the implementation of a number of coral propagation projects throughout the country, as well as community training programs. She has worked as a marine and environmental advisor for President Nasheed since 2016, and for over 5 years as an aide taking on a variety of roles over the years during the political struggles against authoritarian rule in the Maldives.

Callum Roberts is Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of York in the UK. His research focuses on threats to marine life, and on finding the means to protect them. For the last three decades he has used his science background to make the case for stronger protection for marine life at both national and international levels. His research team designed half a million square kilometres of marine protection in the North Atlantic that was established by OSPAR in 2010. His team also provided the scientific underpinning for a new ocean protection target – 30% by 2030 – which is gaining widespread support as a follow on to the UN 10% by 2020 target. Recently, with a group of leading scientists, he showed how expanded ocean protection can help mitigate climate change. His award winning book, The Unnatural History of the Sea, charts the effects of 1000 years of exploitation on ocean life. His second book, Ocean of life: how our seas are changing, shows that the oceans are changing faster and in more ways than at any time in human history, setting out a series of reforms that could lead to a more sustainable future. His latest book, Reef Life: An Underwater Memoir (Profile Books 2019), is on the past and future of the world’s richest and most imperilled marine ecosystem, coral reefs. As well as being science advisor to the Maldives Coral Institute, he is a WWF UK Ambassador, chief science advisor to BLUE Marine Foundation, board member of the Nekton Deep Ocean Research Institute, and advisor to the Pew Bertarelli Global Ocean Legacy Program. He was also chief scientific advisor for the BBC television’s flagship series Blue Planet II.

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is Professor of Marine Studies at the University of Queensland in Australia. His research group focuses on ocean ecosystems and environmental change, particularly on the biological impacts of human driven ocean warming and acidification on coral reefs. Professor Hoegh-Guldberg has also been the Coordinating lead author (CLA) for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), particularly the ‘Oceans’ chapter of AR5 and the ‘Impacts’ chapter for the recent IPCC Special Report on 1.5˚C of global warming. He has been Director of the Centre for Marine Studies as well as the Director of the Global Change Institute over the past 20 years. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Dr. Yimnang Golbuu is the CEO at the Palau International Coral Reef Center. His research interest includes Marine Protected Areas, impacts of local and global disturbance on reefs and status and recovery of reefs over time. In 2012, he received a commendation by the Palau National Congress for his contributions to the sustainability of Palau’s natural resources. In 2013, he was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation. He has served as a board member of Palau Conservation Society, Chairman of the Northern Reef Management Planning Team and Chairman of the Protected Areas Network Technical Committee and Vice President of the International Society for Reef Studies. Presently, he is a Member of the Northern Reef Co-Management Committee, the Palau National Commission of UNESCO, Palau National Marine Sanctuary Executive Committee, and Palau’s Point of Contact (POC) for the US Coral Reef Task Force. Yimnang received his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Davis, M.S. in Biology from the University of Guam and Ph.D. in coral reef ecology at Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia.

Rugiyya Ahmed Didi has been working as President Nasheed’s Secretary since 2008, when he was elected as president. Before that, she worked in the private sector in the travel and tourism field. She has also had 8 years of experience in the education sector where she worked as a teacher

Ahmed Mausoom is a local businessman, and is Chairperson of the Maldives Water and Sewerage Company. Mausoom was former Chief of Staff at the President’s Office during President Nasheed’s administration.

A longstanding campaigner for democracy in the Maldives, Mausoom is one of the founding members of the Maldivian Democratic Party.

He worked from exile for many years, agitating for political reform back home, at a time when government critics and those calling for democracy were routinely rounded up and imprisoned by the then authoritarian regime in the Maldives.

John is a former managing consultant and Partner at Accenture, the global consulting firm. For over 20 years, he led business consulting projects across sectors including airlines, automotive, chemicals, consumer finance, pharmaceuticals, retail, technology and utilities. He held a wide variety of leadership roles in Accenture’s Canadian, German, European and Global consulting practices including the Strategy, Financial Management, and Change Management practices.

Since 2001, John has held a portfolio of part‐time roles in business and the voluntary sector. He is Vice-Chair of New Philanthropy Capital, More House School, and a Trustee of Acumen Academy UK. John is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, a member of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants, and a Freeman of the City of London.

Paul is a British communications expert specialising in strategy, framing, messaging and crisis communications. He has extensive expertise working in the Maldives and Asia, on issues including foreign policy, climate diplomacy, renewable energy policy, and democracy and governance.

For over ten years, Paul has served as communications advisor to President Mohamed Nasheed, helping him to build an exceptional international profile. Paul played a key role in orchestrating world-renowned media events such as the Maldives’ underwater cabinet meeting, and spearheaded the country’s prominent international climate change advocacy agenda. For over three years, Paul also provided daily strategic and crisis communications advice to the Head of Government of a South East Asian country.

Paul is a founder of Atoll Communications, a Maldivian PR and communications firm.

Mark Lynas is the author of five major environmental books for a mainstream readership: High Tide (2004), Six Degrees (2008), The God Species (2011), Seeds of Science (2018) and Our Final Warning (2020). Six Degrees won the Royal Society prize, was translated into 22 languages and also became a documentary film on National Geographic channel. Lynas is climate advisor to the former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, and works with the 55-nation Climate Vulnerable Forum in this capacity.

He has contributed extensively to global media, writing for the Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and numerous others. He is research lead at the Alliance for Science at the Boyce Thompson Institute, an affiliate of Cornell University, and has co-authored peer-reviewed papers on vaccines, climate and GMOs. He is co-founder of the pro-science environmental campaign network RePlanet, launched in 2021 and now active in 12 countries.

Richard Page is a lifelong environmental campaigner and activist stemming from a boyhood love of natural history and ocean life.

For over two decades he worked for Greenpeace, during which he was involved with every aspect of campaign design and delivery, from in-depth research and strategy development to working on innovative communications assets. From representing the organisation at UN treaty meetings, to putting himself between a hunted minke whale and a whaler, Richard has spent most of his adult life working to focus peoples’ hearts and minds on oceans protection.

In recent years, Richard has worked with multiple ocean conservation organisations and is currently the Campaigns Director for RISE UP - a blue call to action, a global network of over 550 organisations, including MCI, working to ensure that governments and businesses take the bold, fair actions required to restore ocean health.

Aisha leads MCI’s partnership development, handling the day to day communication with external stakeholders such as academic institutions, governments, and funders. She also manages strategic projects that help MCI grow and deliver on its core objectives. Aisha was the Festival Director for the Coral Festival held in Addu atoll in April 2023, tasked with executing all functions of the festival from stakeholder engagement, venue preparation, and fundraising.

With experience in Maldivian civil society organisations such as Transparency Maldives, MDN and MRC, Aisha brings a unique perspective to MCI's conservation efforts with her background in human rights and politics, having recently completed a Master's Degree from LSE.

Rhiannon is a PhD student at the University of Exeter investigating the spatial differences in resilience of Maldivian coral reefs. Rhiannon received her BSc in Marine Biology in 2019 and her MSc in Marine Environmental Management in 2021 both from the University of Exeter.

She has been working with the Maldives Coral Institute since 2022, researching the temporal changes in coral cover in the Maldives to better understand the current scale of impacts on coral reefs. As part of her PhD, Rhiannon previously worked with the Maldives Underwater Initiative at Six Senses Resort in Laamu Atoll for a 3-month internship assessing the patterns of coral population replenishment across the atoll.

Ismail gained an appreciation for conservation as a youngster, seeing up-close how the impact of pollution, climate change and global warming directly effects the environment around us. Having become a firm believer since the times of Reduce Re-use and Recycle awareness programs in Maldives, he has been involved in many cleanup and conservation efforts in the country.

Coming from a background in the vocational trades and mechanical engineering he joined the MCI team in 2021 with the coral restoration project at Fulhadhoo in Baa atoll, gaining inspiration and insights in the process of reef restoration. His work now progresses as Restoration Manager at MCI with the belief that our reefs can be saved with good planning, strong will and a mindful effort.