John Monk has attended seven Imaging Foundation expeditions. His passion for underwater photography makes him a key team member. He is always available to lend Photoshop or shooting advice. His penchant for wanting to share tips and help anyone has also made him a delightful friend to the foundation. John was certified for SCUBA in Southern California in 1977, bought his first underwater camera, a Nikonos V, in 1985, and upgraded to a digital camera two and a half years ago.

Rob Reif is a physical therapist from Chicago, Illinois. Rob is passionate about the ocean environment. As an avid diver, he enjoys finding ways to combine diving and sharing his experiences with non-divers. He is a volunteer for the Shedd Aquarium where he gives in water SCUBA presentations describing the animals from the Caribbean coral reef exhibit. This is Rob's first IF expedition.

Jonathan Jaeger has been around the ocean for his entire life, including eight years in the Coast Guard. Jonathan currently resides near San Franscisco, where he frequently dives along the coast, but he also manages to find his way to a couple of tropical destinations each year! “Every once in a while I like diving with clear visibility and no need for a hood to stay warm.” Jonathan was a member of the 2006 Cocos Island expedition and was the first to sign on for a repeat performance for this year’s trip.

Shannon Curtis is a licensed Denturist residing with his wife, Elinor in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. He has been a certified diver since 1980 and is also nitrox & rebreather certified. Shannon’s unbridled enthusiasm and habit for pitching in whenever needed made him an indispensable team member.

Rick Scaletty is an attorney from Kansas City who participated in the Imaging Foundation Galapagos and first Cayman expeditions. As a member of the Cocos 2007 expedition, Rick put aside his own camera to work as the key assistant for the IF F900 Sony high definition camera. He learned about clips, in and out points, and most importantly, the myriad things that can go wrong when working with high tech equipment while hundreds of miles from the mainland. Rick's ability to keep a cool head, coupled with his methodical and logical approach to problem solving was invaluable. Rick is delighted he returned for the Cocos 2007 trip.

Carman Protz joined IF in 2007. He lives in Calgary, Canada. "We all have jobs, mine simply allows me to enjoy my passions.   Diving since 1991, the undersea world grabbed my attention and never let it go. My passion for photography was renewed with the love of diving and the world of underwater video and photography was the main driving force for many of my worldly travels around the globe.   Being able to also incorporate my passion for diving into the learning environment, I'm able to pass on my enthusiasm to all I teach as a PADI Instructor. Take pictures, leave bubbles and I'll see you off the bottom!"

Monty Gamble is from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada where he lives with his four sons and wife Susan. He has been diving since 1999 and the whole family participates in scuba diving as well as other outdoor activities. Monty and his son are active motor cross racers. He also coaches minor hockey. Monty operates two services companies. Monty was attracted to the Cocos Island Expedition because he is an aspiring underwater photographer and the mission of the Imaging Foundation aligns with his personal goals

Lorenz Mader, originally from Switzerland, is an avid technical diver with 13,000 dives over 27 years. He studied biology, and founded Wakatobi Resort located in Indonesia where he is the director of operations.

"From afar I watch the rapid disconnection of Humanity from Nature. My desire to share images and experiences around the world to enlighten and involve everyone in our existence brings me closer to fantastic organizations such as the Imaging Foundation. A collective vision is necessary to include and educate everyone. Our world is precious and fragile, it's magnificence beyond our comprehension..."

Thomas Dunkin is a Londoner who now lives in New York City and travelsextensively as a hair stylist for professional photos/videos/movies. He's beendiving for 14 years and plans to introduce his son, Arthur to diving this year in theMaldives. Thomas is passionate about the West Ham United, and has a tattoo to prove it! As part of his Imaging Foundation leadership, Thomas hopes to link the“Hammers” with the IF to help raise money to protect the hammerheads of the shark species.

Aiko Matoba is a Neuro surgeon practicing with Matoba & Associates in Tokyo, Japan. She has lived in Pittsburgh, USA while participating in a medical fellowship. She has been a diver for five years and on this trip had a double celebration of her birthday and 800th dive. Aiko cares deeply for the marine environment and feels each of us can truly make a difference and that a critical part of preserving these eco-systems is education of the local populations on their importance and fragility.

Kyoko Takagi is from Tokyo, Japan. She started diving 10 years ago while living in Indonesia. She is a Derivatives Trader for Associate Generale. Cocos Island has been a dream dive destination for her and being able to combine her love of scuba diving with an expedition with a purpose has added immensely to her enjoyment of the spectacular diving at Cocos.

Hoyle Curtis is on his first Imaging Foundation expedition and was attracted by the mission of the Foundation and the quality of the volunteers who participate. He is in awe of the superb marine life inhabiting the Cocos Island Marine Sanctuary. Hoyle lives in Colorado and is a retired engineer and technology manager. He now devotes time and passion to technology startup incubation, scuba diving and learning underwater photography.

Ana Martin has been diving since 1972, a PADI and NAUI diving instructor since 1978, and was the owner/operator of a scuba business in Maui, Hawaii for ten years. In real life, she is a manager at a major financial institution in Olympia, Washington.

Jay Ireland and Georgienne Bradley have led yet another successful expedition and brought the reality of a truly unique environment to all of us.

Thanks for a great expedition!