Executive Director

Karina Johnston is the Executive Director of Heal the Ocean and a dedicated scientific and community leader with many years of experience across California’s coastal ecosystems. Her work bridges science, policy, and public engagement to advance healthy, sustainable, and climate-resilient coastlines. She has directed numerous projects to restore coastal habitats, including marine ecosystems, wetlands, beaches, and dunes. Her previous roles include Senior Restoration Ecologist at Tidal Influence and Science Director of The Bay Foundation where she led habitat restoration, outreach, and water quality improvement programs. Her work in nonprofit management includes developing strategic plans, securing and implementing funding and grants, guiding scientific initiatives, and executing communication strategies. Karina holds a Master’s degree in marine ecology from James Cook University, BS in aquatic biology from the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), Board Certification in Environmental Science, and is nearing completion of her PhD at UCSB. When Karina is not working to help heal our ocean, you can find her enjoying life at the beach with her family.

Heal the Ocean Co-Founder, Strategic Advisor

Hillary has been a writer/journalist/news reporter since 1968, with published books about the sea and underwater exploration, and magazine articles including National Geographic, Geo, Islands, The Surfer’s Journal, Reader’s Digest and the Los Angeles Times. From 1969 through 1977 she was West Coast stringer for Ocean Science News, Washington D.C., and from 1981-1986 was ocean/marine reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press. She also was the former music critic for the Santa Barbara News-Press and is a long-time classical pianist.

Operations and Outreach Manager

Amber is the Operations and Outreach Manager at Heal the Ocean.  In her role, she leads grant writing, marketing, event outreach, and administrative efforts.  Prior to joining HTO, Amber worked with the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation on marketing and coordination for the Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies program and with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary to organize marine debris cleanups at the Channel Islands.  Amber also has experience in environmental planning, coordinating greenhouse gas verification projects, and digital marketing in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors.  Amber holds a Masters of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.  In her free time you can find her backpacking, paddling, or surfing.

Program Manager

Noah graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he earned a BS in Environmental Management and Protection as well as an MBA with an emphasis in general management. Growing up in Ventura, Noah found his passion for the environment through surfing, running, and hiking. A prominent figure in the local music scene, Noah founded and managed multiple bands, co-wrote, co-produced, and performed on 5 full length albums, and performed in over 230 shows throughout California. Noah loves traveling and looking for new destinations to surf, snowboard, catch a show, and try new food.

Event Manager

Heather Hudson is a film producer living in Santa Barbara, California. The one constant in Heather’s life is her absolute love for surfing and the ocean. She begins most of her days with a surf session at a world class surf break in south Santa Barbara County, where she is known for her graceful longboard style. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from UCLA in 1984, Heather worked in advertising until she became a full-time mother in 1991. In 2007, she started her film production company, Graciegirl LLC, and created the groundbreaking documentary surf film, “THE WOMEN AND THE WAVES.” In 2016, the follow-up documentary THE WOMEN AND THE WAVES 2" was released to the delight of audiences worldwide! In 2020, Heather released “93 - LETTERS FROM MARGE,” a film documenting the life stories of Surf Pioneer and Icon, Marge Calhoun.

Heather has been a part of Heal the Ocean since its beginning & she is committed to ending ocean pollution. In 2012, she was named to the Heal the Ocean Board of Directors. Currently she heads up Fundraising and Events.

Field Consultant

Harry Rabin is a photographer & filmmaker whose career has spanned science, environment and public entertainment with his award-winning films. His documentary work has always been accompanied by sound research to create informative and educational projects, and this intersection of science and art has led him to a career of environmental stewardship.

He is in charge of principal photography and videography for all productions at On the Wave Productions, and has acted as producer and/or cinematographer for numerous documentaries including Into the Shark Zone, Witness to Disaster, and When Sharks Attack among others. His documentary biography features natural disaster and wildlife coverage, and he has been fortunate to work with acclaimed filmmakers and environmentalists like Mike DeGruy and Sylvia Earle. His work has taken him to the front lines of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Santa Barbara Thomas Fire, the ensuing deadly Montecito debris flows, and to Russia, where in 2019, he documented Charles Vinick and Jean-Michel Cousteau on a mission to free captured orcas from the notorious so-called “Whale Jail.” His documentary work helped secure their release.

He is currently public outreach advisor and field researcher for Heal the Ocean, where he uses his background in film and equipment to aid in scientific monitoring and public outreach. With Heal the Ocean, he has been working with California State Lands Commission to manage leaking legacy wellheads. Through close documentation, he has developed better practices for accurately locating wellheads and safely containing oil during abandonments.

He is also an official liaison between NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

Jean-Michel Cousteau is a world-renowned ocean explorer, producer of over 80 underwater adventure films, and founder and president of Ocean Futures Society. Jean-Michel is an explorer, environmentalist, educator, and film producer, and for more than four decades, he has dedicated himself to communicating to people of all nations and generations his love and concern for our ocean.

Treasurer

Thomas Dabney is a native Santa Barbarian and lobster fisherman with deep appreciation for the ocean and all it affords, and comes to Heal the Ocean with valuable directorial experience as a long time board member of his family foundations.

Board of Director

Charles Vinick has been a friend of HTO since our beginnings. He set up our 501c3 under the wing of the Jean-Michel Cousteau Institute in Santa Barbara (before it became Ocean Futures) so that we could hit the ground running with non-profit status in 1998. He was on the Board of HTO for 12 years, then took a break to head up a number of environmental non-profit organizations focusing on ocean policy, environmental policy and solutions and marine energy technology development. Charles gives us strong guidance!

Board of Director

Jonathan Wygant is CEO and founder of BigSpeak, Inc. the largest business-oriented agency/consultancy in North America focused on serving the Fortune 1000 and multinational companies worldwide.  BigSpeak addresses the needs of corporations, associations, non-profits and government agencies by providing inspirational speakers, thought leaders and subject matter experts. Jonathan draws on his more than 30 years of hands-on business experience and extensive research into the best practices of visionary leaders and successful companies. His expertise is in understanding his client’s needs and matching them with speakers and trainers who will best deliver inspirational messages and support lasting positive organizational change.
Before founding BigSpeak, Jonathan was the CEO and co-founder of Iris Arc Crystal, an Inc. 500 international giftware manufacturing company headquartered in Santa Barbara, California. While at Iris Arc, he built the company to 5000 accounts, 120 employees and 135 sales reps nationwide.
 

Former Chair for the Montecito Planning Commission

Singer-songwriter and Environmentalist, Co-founder of the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation

Emmy Award-winning Actress and Comedian

Co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series

Professional Photographer

Life-long surfer and ocean waterman

Former HTO Policy Analyst, Assistant Director of Berkeley Institute for the Future of Young Americans

Musician

Celebrated ocean & nature lover, philanthropist through her family foundation Manitou Fund

Santa Barbara Top-Selling Realtor

Former Santa Barbara County Fire Chief

Environmental Keeper of Santa Claus Lane

John Robinson, a national figure in U.S. space and ocean programs, is at the heart and soul of Heal the Ocean, and will always be. 

Following a distinguished career with NASA (he was part of Mission Control during the Apollo 11 moon landing). From there, he moved to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where he established an intergovernmental program called the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) in response to the Arab Oil embargo that rocked the world in 1973 following the Yom Kippur War

In 1999 he was introduced to Heal the Ocean co-founder Hillary Hauser by the celebrated ocean explorer Sylvia Earle, and with his characteristic Can-Do spirit, he immediately applied his brilliant engineering mind to solving Santa Barbara ocean pollution problems.

Read more. . .

Mike deGruy, friend and supporter tragically passed away in February 2012 while on expedition with National Geographic/James Cameron in Australia.

Mike was loved by everybody. He was kind, and he was generous with his good will. He had come to Heal the Ocean in our beginning years and said, “I want to help!”, and by 2005 he was on the HTO Advisory Board where he helped out on our earliest dives on a sewer outfall.

Mike was director of photography for many films and series about ocean animals, he worked for National Geographic, PBS, and with BBC and David Attenborough and James Cameron and Turner Broadcasting. He received numerous awards for his ocean work. Above all, Mike, we will never forget you and all that you have done for the ocean.

Former HTO Board Member and Founding Board Member of the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation

Bookkeeper

Amy has been Heal the Ocean’s bookkeeper since 2018, bringing a background as a former bank VP along with a BA in Linguistics from UCSB. She combines fiscal integrity with a strong commitment to purpose-driven work, and is proud to support our mission to educate and clarify practical, everyday steps we can all take to be part of caring for our world and each other.

Amy also mentors teenage survivors of trafficking, offering guidance and support during critical stages of their lives. An avid traveler with a deep love for nature, Amy can often be found picking up trash on her walks—no matter the country—quietly doing her part to care for the environment. She enjoys her family, entertaining, gardening, cooking, yoga, kayaking, hiking, and photography.