Meet The Team.
Get to know the Marine Discoveries leadership team, we’re
a fun-loving and friendly bunch but very committed to our work
on the Great Barrier Reef and marine conservation world wide.
Living and working on the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns makes for an amazing lifestyle, doing what we all love every day is the icing on the cake and being able to do our work with such a great group of professionals and friends is “living the dream”.
Our numbers vary seasonally with volunteers and interns as well our core staff, keep an eye out for us around Cairns and make sure to say hello.
Gareth Phillips
Principal Marine Biologist
Chief Clown Fish Wrangler
Gareth is the owner and director of Marine Discoveries. Gareth has spent 10+ years on the Reef and in that time, he has spent more than 2500 days and completed over 5000 divers on the Reef, delivered over 350 lectures, presentations, speeches, and guided thousands of people. Adding to that he was one of the first people to be named a Master Reef Guide.
Gareth believes inspiring, positive, accurate information is the only way to conserve not only the Great Barrier Reef but all of the natural world around us.
Natalie Phillips
Business Manager
She Who Must Be Obeyed
Natalie is the true boss (despite what Gareth thinks!) driving the organisation forward and making sure Gareth is in the right place at the right time.
With a mixed heritage of South African, Greek, and Swiss, and a background in photography and travel, she also fell in love with the Great Barrier Reef when she moved to Cairns. She is an avid diver and tries to get in the water whenever she can, if you see her on one of these trips, make sure you point out her favourite fish, the amazing Moorish Idol.
Cara McMeel
Marine Biologist
Sea Slug Charmer Extraordinaire
Cara was born in Scotland and raised in New Zealand. At age 18 she moved to Australia to pursue her passion by doing a Marine Biology degree as New Zealand waters were a little cold for her. This was followed by a Masters in Natural Resource Management as she was fascinated by the way things were run and how she could help. She originally came to Cairns to escape the winter weather of Adelaide but immediately fell in love with the reef and decided to stay!
She has been diving since age 18 and despite the cold, you could never get her out of the water in her hometown in New Zealand. She is passionate about all things marine biology related, with a special love for the beautiful Nudibranchs.
Tatiana McLean
Office Administrator and Team Wrangler
Tatiana has the (un)lucky bonus of not only being our office administrator but also Gareth’s sister in law! With her background and qualifications in Early Childhood, her experience makes her perfect to wrangle our team sometimes!
Tatiana was the first out of the family to move to Cairns after falling for a local boy and the rest of the family followed swiftly afterwards. After 20 years in Australia, she is well and truly a local herself now.
Tatiana deals with everything and anything at Marine Discoveries. You will most likely find her behind the computer replying to emails or on the phone trying to organise Gareth’s crazy schedule. Her patience and skills make the whole of Marine Discoveries run smoothly!
Gethin Phillips
Future Marine Biologist
Giant Clam Trainer
Gethin is the youngest member of the Marine Discoveries team. The son of Gareth and Natalie, he is following in their footsteps by having already given his first reef talk at school at the age of 6!
Gethin loves nothing more than being in the water and is counting down the days until he can do his dive certification. He gets a little intimidated by the larger fish on the reef as they are nearly as big as him but his favourite thing to see is the spectacular giant clams!
Harley
Customer Liaison
Chief Distraction & Tail Duster
Harley is the latest and fluffiest member of the team. As Gareth’s sidekick, you can be sure that wherever the boss is, Harley will be too. A regular in the Marine Discoveries office, Harley will be sure to welcome you with all the cuddles you could ask for and definitely makes the office a slightly more distracting place to be!
