Our Team

Meet the Reef Renewal Staff

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Manager

Tripp Funderburk

Tripp Funderburk is the Manager of the Reef Renewal Curacao (RRC). He is responsible for nursery construction and maintenance; coral outplanting and monitoring; and teaching visiting and volunteer divers about coral restoration

Before managing RRC, Tripp managed the Bay Islands Reef Restoration and Roatan Marine Park coral nursery programs in Roatan, Honduras. Tripp also served as Director of Policy for Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF), and Director of International Operations at the Coral Restoration Foundation International (CRFI) in Key Largo, Florida.

Before working in coral restoration, Tripp worked in public policy in Washington, DC, for more than 20 years, including eight years as a legislative assistant on both the House Appropriations and the House Administration Committees. Tripp also worked in the private sector in government relations for The Washington Group and The Livingston Group where he represented Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, non-profit organizations, conservation groups, Indian tribes, and foreign governments.

Mr. Funderburk received his M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Virginia.

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Restoration Coordinator

Lars ter Horst

Lars is from the Netherlands and has joined the Reef Renewal Curaçao team in April 2023 as Restoration coordinator. Lars has an MSc Freshwater and Marine Biology from the University of Amsterdam; a BSc in Coastal and Marine Management from the Van Hall University of Applied Sciences, Leeuwarden, Netherlands with a Minor BSC in Marine Sciences from The Scottish Association for Marine Science.

Lars also has experience working with a myriad of different projects focussing on coral reef ecosystems. We are thrilled to add someone with such a distinguished marine biology education as well as hands-on experience. Lars will help to increase our integration with latest marine biology research and include more scientific rigor in our restoration work.

Meet the Board of Directors

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Jeremiah Peek

Chair

Laureen Schenk

Secretary

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Pol Bosch

Treasurer

Meet the Advisory Board

Ken Nedimyer

Technical Advisor, Founder of Reef Renewal International

Ken Nedimyer

Ken Nedimyer is the founder of Reef Renewal and the founder and former president of the Coral Restoration Foundation.  Ken has designed and set up coral nursery and reef restoration programs in over 12 different countries, has a degree in Marine Biology and has a life time of experience diving on coral reefs.  Ken played an important role in establishing the nursery and restoration program on Bonaire, and continues to work with the program managers at Reef Renewal Bonaire to share lessons learned in Bonaire and around the world.