Ambassadors

Rhonda Ahrens

Ocean First Ambassador

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A California beach raised woman landlocked in Colorado. Rhonda has a husband, two teenage kids - all SSI Rescue Diver certified. In addition to the people in her family she has  two rescue mutts Boomer and Bo. She has been diving since attending UCSD in the 80’s. Rhonda enjoys adventure travel, ocean conservation, and preserving our planet for her children and future generations.  Her favorite spots to dive are the Caribbean and Indonesia, though she learned in cold water off the Channel Islands of CA. Besides diving she enjoys rowing crew on the Boulder Reservoir early mornings April through October, fostering puppies for a local rescue group, watching her kids play sports, reading, drinking wine, cooking and working hard to live every day to the fullest.

Ayla Besemer

Ocean First Ambassador

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When Boulder-native Ayla was 11, her family sold everything they owned, bought a 43’ foot trawler, and spent the next seven years traveling the ocean, putting over 35,000 nautical miles under their hull. Whether receiving her Advanced SCUBA certification in Costa Rica, scaling glaciers in Alaska, or sailing in the Exumas, Ayla became passionate about not only exploring the ocean, but also protecting it. During her family’s multi-year journey, she documented her experiences at sea for fellow kids through blogs and her YouTube Channel, Three@Sea. She also worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a Youth Ambassador, developing ocean-conservation focused programming for young people which she went on to present to thousands of kids in multiple states and countries. Ayla attended Yale University and received a degree in Humanities and Journalism before returning to Boulder, Colorado.

She is a certified Rescue diver and former competitive sailor, logging dives from the kelp forests of Catalina Island to, most recently, Iceland’s famous Thingvellir national park. She serves as an Ocean Science Educator for Ocean First’s nonprofit partner Ocean First Institute, and also works as a freelance writer (her most recent piece, “The Spirit[s] of Colorado Agriculture,” will be featured in the summer issue of Distiller Magazine), educator, and political consultant. Ayla is committed to using her diversity of experience — from working with Colorado’s Attorney General to sailing on Yale’s top-ranked sailing team — to encourage both exploration and conservation of the ocean and our waterways. When not diving or teaching, Ayla can be found seeking the perfect taco, karaoke-ing “Hamilton” on repeat, and sampling anything from local distilleries.

Salome Buglass

Ocean First Ambassador

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Salome’s marine science career began when she volunteered as a reef-check diver in Trinidad and Tobago. The experience led her to quit her job in marketing and pursue a MSc at the University of British Columbia (UBC) to investigate the impact of climate change on Tobago’s coastal coral reefs. After graduating she moved to Galapagos, Ecuador, to work as a marine scientist at the Charles Darwin Research Station, where she has been working on several applied projects that support the management of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. These include the first characterization of deep-sea ecosystems in the Galapagos, evaluating the effectiveness of the no-take reserves, and monitoring sub-tidal coastal ecosystems.

Salome was recently a recipient of a National Geographic Early Career Grant to lead a pioneer study using small remotely operated vehicles to explore seamount ecosystems known to be key fishing sites for the Galapagos artisanal fleet. Her most extraordinary finding was serendipitously discovering a new species of deep-water kelp with associated kelp-engineered habitat for the Galapagos Archipelago. To answer some of the many questions about this mysterious kelp forest Salome began a PhD in January 2020 at UBC. She aims to describe this new ecosystem and investigate its ecological role in the archipelago. Salome is also training to become a technical diver to enable her to dive deeper and study the kelp forest at close hand and collect better data.

Salome believes healthy ocean and land resources are essential for the planet and human well-being. She is aware that solving most of today’s environmental challenges requires an interdisciplinary approach, education and effective science communication. Thus, her goals are to explore understudied deep-sea systems and the use of creative ways to heighten public understanding about the existence of these remote and rarely seen ecosystems. She is also committed to crossing the diversity divide. “In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught” -- Baba Dioum 1986

Ari Friedlaender, PhD.

Ocean First Ambassador

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Ari S. Friedlaender, PhD.  Ari is an Associate Researcher at the Institute for Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz and the Director for Research at the California Ocean Alliance.  Ari is a global expert and leader in marine mammal research and conservation.  Ari and his colleagues study the underwater behavior of marine mammals to better understand their ecology and how they are being affected by human disturbance from climate change to navy sonar to ship strikes.  Ari works primarily in the Antarctic where he has pioneered a long-term research program working with the National Science Foundation as well as from platforms of opportunity.  Ari is a National Geographic Explorer, World Wildlife Fund Ambassador and sits on several international panels to help conserve and protect marine mammals and ocean ecosystems.  Along with OceanFirst, Ari has helped to develop curriculum for a marine mammals course that is offered online around the world to help inspire and educate the next generation of ocean scientists, conservationists, and leaders.

Dan Goldan

Ocean First Ambassador

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Dan was scuba certified by Ocean First back in 1991 when it was still Scuba Joe.  He had wanted to get his scuba certification for several years, but at the time, couldn’t afford it.  He won a certification course as a door prize at an awards dinner.  At the time, he was a volunteer firefighter with Cherryvale Fire (now Rocky Mtn Fire), and is still a volunteer rescuer with the Boulder Emergency Squad.  He went on to become a public safety diver with the Boulder Emergency Squad, and then a Public Safety Scuba Instructor in 1997.  Dan became a corporate trainer for Dive Rescue Int’l in 1998 and remains active with them today.  In 2008 he became a recreational scuba instructor with SSI, and moved on to becoming a technical diving instructor in 2012.  Dan joined Ocean First as an instructor in 2010 and is currently an Assistant Instructor Trainer with SSI.  His passions in diving include multi-gas and multi-tank, deep, sidemount diving, as well as mentoring new instructors.  He also enjoys biking, swimming and shorter distance triathlons.

Drew Herrick

Ocean First Ambassador

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Drew is an experienced freediving instructor and underwater photography enthusiast.  He uses his background as an outdoor educator to teach people more about themselves, increase their confidence in the water, and replace fear and misunderstanding of the ocean with wonder and compassion.  He hopes to create more advocates for ocean conservation while promoting the sport of freediving.  When he’s not in the water, you can find him running and biking the trails of Colorado or planning his next diving adventure.

Ben Higgins

Ocean First Ambassador

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Ben Higgins is best known from season 20 of ABC’s hit series, “The Bachelor,” where he opened himself up to
millions of viewers, giving them the chance to truly get to know him. The opportunity ultimately led to an enhanced platform that he now uses to share what he is most passionate about with others – his faith, his hope for humanity and his love of sports.

Born and raised in Winona Lake, IN, Ben currently resides in Denver, CO, where he moved after graduating from Indiana University in 2012. Since “The Bachelor,” Ben has been keeping up with a number of projects with the help of some of his closest friends.

Most importantly, Ben co-founded Generous International, a for purpose company dedicated to contributing profits to social issues around the world, starting with a cup of coffee. With a vision to change the way society thinks of consumer products, all Generous merchandise is designed specifically to create and multiply good in the world. Whether creating jobs, feeding children or improving education, it begins with giving back in order to build a world that we all want to live in.

Ben stays connected with his loyal Bachelor following with his iHeartMedia podcast, “Almost Famous,” which he co-hosts with his friend and former Bachelor contestant, Ashley Iaconetti. With over 80 million downloads, it’s the perfect destination for fans to get an inside perspective on the popular franchise as they break down the current Bachelor season in addition to discussing pop culture, offering relationship advice and allowing listeners to keep up with their personal lives.

In 2018, Ben partnered with nationally recognized chef Daniel Asher and the team at Culinary Creative Group to open his first restaurant venture Ash ‘Kara in Denver, Co. Ash ‘Kara is a globally inspired restaurant with influences from Israel, the Middle East, and Mesopotamia. Ash ‘Kara which is Hebrew street slang for “totally!” or “right on!” explores the continuous evolution of Israeli cuisine with ingredients and flavors from across Europe and North Africa including Yemen, Syria, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey and Spain into a menu of shareable items from Ash ‘Kara’s wood-fired oven.

Mica Kimmett

Ocean First Ambassador

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Mica (pronounced Mee-kuh) first went swimming in the shark tank at the local aquarium for her seventh birthday, and from that moment, she’s been absorbed in everything ocean. After being inspired by the movie Dolphin Tale, she took a trip to the Dolphin Research Center in Florida and, ever since, has dreamed of pursuing a career in marine science.

In 2018, as a freshman in high school, Mica was offered a once-in-a-lifetime scholarship to join A Rising Tide, a marine science and scuba program/web documentary series hosted by Ocean First. Just a few months after the culmination of the program, she applied for and was accepted into, the second, previously unplanned, year of A Rising Tide. Over the duration of those two periods of the program, Mica gained priceless knowledge pertaining to the conservation and research of the ocean and its inhabitants, as well as earned her advanced open water certification through scuba trips to Key Largo and Cozumel. 

More recently, Mica had the opportunity to board the Research Vessel Stenella and head to the Bahamas for an internship through the Wild Dolphin Project. There, she aided experienced researchers and grad students in their behavioral, communication, and identification studies of Atlantic spotted dolphins.

Mica loves adventures of any kind, and in her free time, can be found exploring the mountains near Boulder, Colorado with friends and family. Whether it be hiking, camping, skiing, snowboarding, playing soccer, paddle boarding, surfing, scuba diving, or just building bonfires and hanging out with her goats, chickens, and cat in her backyard, Mica is an outdoor enthusiast through-and-through and can’t wait to begin her scientific studies in college.

Mishka

Ocean First Ambassador

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Born in Bermuda and raised in the Caribbean, Mishka is a traveler and a sailor at heart. A free spirit, whose lyrics melodies and grooves, are reflections of the roots and culture in which he grew, Mishka’s music is Caribbean at the core, and yet it's an eclectic sound that contains many elements and genres. From bass heavy roots reggae, to mellow acoustic ballads, songs of love, songs of social justice and consciousness, you have to hear for yourself and experience the music.

With 20 years of touring and recording under his belt, Mishka has seen many aspects of the music industry. From London to Hollywood, he has been on both major and independent labels, and his songs have been featured on sound tracks in films and t.v. all over the globe. Now fully independent, he continues to write and record, releasing titles on his own Mishka Music label. Mishka has released six full length Albums to date including the eponymous Mishka in 1999, One Tree in 2005, Above the Bones in 2009, Talk About in 2010, The Journey in 2013, Roots Fidelity 2015, and EP’s Anything Anytime Anywhere in 2012 Ocean Is My Potion in 2013 all of which have received critical acclaim around the world. In 2009, Mishka released a special digital only collection of acoustic songs entitled Guy With a Guitar which iTunes named the Best Singer Songwriter Collection of The Year.

Mishka’s released have charted around the globe including three releases reaching #1 spot on Billboard Magazine’s Reggae Chart. Mishka continues to tour extensively both solo and with his band playing clubs, theaters, and festivals all over America, Canada, Europe, Hawaii, and Japan.