Bob Shepton – Patron
The Reverend Bob Shepton is recognised as one of the greatest high latitude sailors of his generation. His achievements rank alongside those of the legendary Bill Tilman, David Scott Cowper and Skip Novak and include the CCA’s Blue Water Medal, RYA Yachtsman of the Year, the Goldsmith Medal for Exploration, twice winner of the RCC’s Tilman Medal and twice winner of the OCC’s Barton Cup, plus the Piolet D’Or for his climbing exploits with the “Wild Bunch”. These are just a few of the awards presented to this remarkable and inspirational yachtsman.
Bob is our Patron, and we love him for reminding us that adventure is a way of life!
Steve Brown – Mentor
Steve is an extraordinary sailor, climber and businessman. In 2019 he won the Tilman Medal from the Royal Cruising Club and the 2020 Cruising Club of America’s “Far Horizon” Medal for displaying the highest standards of seamanship and determination on his 33,000 nautical mile circumnavigation of the Americas. During this time on passage from South Georgia to the Falkland Islands, he endured the most challenging conditions with hurricane force headwinds that necessitated the use of a drogue and running SE away from his destination for 42 hours.
Steve is our mentor, and we love him for his cool head and his commitment to environmental action.
Pippa, Lady Blake – Patron
Pippa, Lady Blake shares a deep concern for the effects of climate change on the planet and is a strong supporter of those committed to making change and protecting the marine environment. She is co-patron and a founding trustee of BLAKE, an organisation in New Zealand established in 2004 to inspire young people in leading a sustainable future for Aotearoa. With her late husband Sir Peter Blake, Pippa took part in many ocean yacht races, has sailed around the world and was part of many yachting campaigns.
Pippa is a well-known and respected artist. She works from her studio at home on the edge of Chichester Harbour on the south coast of the UK, where she was brought up, and visits NZ every year to connect with family, friends and BLAKE – and go sailing.
Our advisers
Bruce Glavovic
Prof Bruce Glavovic brings a world of experience on climate impacts on coastal communities to Novara. He is co-Editor-in-Chief of Ocean & Coastal Management, Senior Editor for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science, and on several other Editorial Boards. He was Coordinating Lead Author of the sea-level rise chapter in the IPCC’s 2019 Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate and is a Lead Author and Cross-Chapter Paper Lead in the IPCC’s Working Group II contribution to AR6. He’s widely published in the fields of coastal management, natural hazards and climate change. Bruce has designed and delivered public and sector-specific training, capacity building and professional development programmes in South Africa, the USA, Canada, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Maldives and New Zealand. He led the team that designed and facilitated South Africa’s coastal policy formulation process that culminated in the Government’s White Paper for Sustainable Coastal Development in 2000 and the world’s first Integrated Coastal Management Act.
Nisreen Elsaim
Nisreen Elsaim brings her energy, charisma and climate activism to Novara. She is a Sudanese youth climate activist and climate negotiator. She is currently Chair of the UN’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. Nisreen is president of the Sudan Youth for Climate Change and was an organizer of the 2019 Youth Climate Summit.
We met Nisreen in Khartoum where she graduated with a Physics and Renewable energy degree from the University of Khartoum. Nisreen has been actively involved in youth climate activism since 2012.
Dr Victoria Syddall
Victoria is a marine science and policy expert. Her PhD examined gender and climate change in the coastal communities of Fiji and Solomon Islands using the western and Pacific tuna fishery as a case study. She brings to Novara particular expertise in inshore, deepwater, and offshore fisheries management, transboundary and integrated social ecological system management of fisheries and stakeholder led collaborative processes. She’s a rescue diver and the sea is her life.