Goa, India +91 9822182402 coastalimpactindia@gmail.com

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Coastal Impact Team Members

Meet the Team: Where Passion Meets Purpose!

Founded in 2009 by the dynamic Venkatesh Charloo, Coastal Impact is on a longterm mission to preserve and conserve marine ecosystems in India.

Our conservation mission involves diving deep in the Arabian Sea to study and monitor marine life while spreading awareness about conservation issues in India. We specialise in coral restoration and marine biodiversity surveys which we perform to establish research-guided action plans to revitalise our critical coastal ecosystems.

Ready to dive in? Join us on our journey to safeguard these treasures as a volunteer, support our initiatives, or simply learning more about the work we do. Together, we'll ensure oceans full of wonder for generations to come.

coastal impact team photo

Venkatesh Charloo

Founder Trustee
Bachelor of Commerce – Bangalore University
Certified Instructor Development Course Staff Instructor (IDCS) certified with Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and Master Instructor with Scuba Schools International (SSI)

A banker by profession, Venkat worked in Hong Kong for 11 years between 1984 and 1995 before deciding to quit the rat race and start recreational scuba diving in Goa, India, in Nov 1995. He joined Barracuda Diving India as a freelance instructor, becoming a partner in 1996 and then took over the company as a Sole Proprietor in 1997. He is passionate about marine conservation and founded Coastal Impact with the intention of building awareness about marine ecosystems and motivating people to become divers and ‘ocean ambassadors’, as well as join in to save Goa’s precious marine life. He is one of the most highly qualified dive instructors in India and has been diving since the last 30 years.

Roanna Silveira

Marine Conservationist
MSc Microbiology (2015)
MSc Marine Environment and Resources (2022)

Roanna is a passionate marine conservationist specialising in coral research and restoration. As a certified Dive Master, she spends countless hours underwater, observing and studying coral reefs firsthand. Her multidisciplinary background and experience allow her to conduct field assessments, develop conservation strategies, and raise awareness about coral conservation. While working with us, she had the opportunity to contribute to hands-on projects in coral micro-fragmentation and fish identification, while also organising educational webinars and carrying out other operational activities at Coastal Impact.

Jeremy Josh

Marine Biologist

Jeremy’s passion has always been fieldwork and so he can never see himself as a marine biologist stuck to the lab or computer. He thrives on surveys where he constantly looks for new specimens and also exhults in finding new coral recruits or new fish species where there were none recorded before.

His desire for meaningful research and discovering solutions to save corals and all its inhabitants runs deep and keeps him on an eternal quest to get more knowledge by researching more and more.

Coastal Impact Volunteers
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Anindya Mukherjee
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Ashel Unger
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Charles Antao
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Chinmaya Hunagund
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Deeptaroop Basu
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Gunjan Mitra
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Ishan Nangia
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Karen Shaikh
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Nadia Humberstone
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Radhika Kothari
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Ron Bezbaruah
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Roshni Ali
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Samar Ahmad
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Satyen Patham

Coastal Impact Volunteers
Sharvani Pinge
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Taneeshi Kotwal
Coastal Impact Volunteers
Vignesh Shanbagh
Coastal Impact Advisors

Dr. Robert Sluka

Bob received his Ph.D. in marine biology from the University of Miami and has since led projects in the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean. His research focuses on the application of ecological principles to the conservation and management of marine ecosystems, especially coral reefs. This includes fish habitat utilisation, the effects of fishing on commercial fish species, cleaning symbiosis, design and monitoring of marine protected areas, and biodiversity studies. We have conducted several underwater surveys at Netrani Island in Karnataka and Grande Island in Goa with Dr. Sluka. We are also the monitors for the census of Napoleon Wrasse in Netrani in association with him.

Dr. Sujitha Thomas

Dr. Thomas is the current Principal Scientist & Head of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) at Mangalore Regional Centre, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, DARE, Govt. of India. A gold medalist from Cochin University of Science and Technology for her post graduation in Marine Biology in 1991, she was awarded Ph. D in Zoology from University of Calicut, Kerala. She has carried out research specialising in molluscan fisheries, marine biodiversity and demersal fisheries. Most of our underwater surveys for CMFRI have been under the supervision of Dr. Sujitha. In fact, she was the inspiration and support behind starting Coastal Impact as a result of several insightful discussions while travelling from and to survey sites.

Dr. Chandralata Raghukumar

Dr. Raghukumar is a marine biologist and presently an Emeritus Scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, where she has worked as a Scientist from 1983 to 2006. She has worked and published extensively on the use of microorganisms in bioremediation of pollution and deep-sea microorganisms and was the Leader of the Marine Biotechnology Group at NIO for several years. She has been involved in teaching various aspects of marine biology and has trained numerous postgraduate, as well as doctoral students.

Dr Seshagiri Raghukumar

Dr. Seshagiri is a marine biologist, who worked at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa from 1982 till 2005, serving as the Leader of the Marine Biodiversity Group for several years. He is an internationally acknowledged expert in marine microbiology and has a broad knowledge in marine biodiversity and a keen interest in the marine ecosystem. Dr Raghukumar has published numerous research papers in international and national journals, and has several patents in marine biotechnology. We worked with Dr. Raghukumar on the documenting of marine life by videography in Lakshadweep Islands in 1998 through NIO. Since then, he has participated in several of our underwater clean ups and is a wealth of knowledge for us to draw upon for all things marine.

Dr Aaron Lobo

Dr. Aaron Lobo

Aaron is a marine conservation scientist working at the interface of conservation and development. He completed his PhD from the University of Cambridge and has since managed a number of projects in a range of countries in Asia and West Africa. The overarching focus of his work has largely been to understand the ecological and social costs of seafood production systems and to provide evidence-based recommendations to Governments, NGO´s, private clients and grassroots organisations. To this effect he has worked on understanding the effects tropical trawl fisheries have on ecosystems and livelihoods, developing participatory models for MPA management, setting up monitoring programs for small-scale fisheries and mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions into urban planning. He is a member of the IUCN SSC Marine Conservation Committee and a co-chair in the IUCN SSC Sea snake specialist group.

Coastal Impact

Coastal Impact is a non-governmental organization based out of Goa, India established in 2009. We study and monitor India’s marine ecosystems and support awareness, outreach, research, and conservation initiatives across the country. Our activities also involve helping build interest and engagement amongst local communities and visitors about the extraordinary marine ecosystems of India.

Get In Touch

Goa, India

coastalimpactindia@gmail.com

+91 9822182402

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