Underwater photographer and marine conservationist Ellen Cuylaerts is the latest name to be added to the speaker roster at the GO Diving Roadshow, which will take place at NDAC from 17-19 September and is sponsored by Tobago Beyond.
Ellen will be on the main stage on the Saturday evening, and her presentation is sure to include plenty of evocative imagery from dives around the world, as well as some hard-hitting elements about the threats facing our marine environment.
She will also be on the Divers Alert Network stand on the Friday and Saturday to offer some one-to-one advice about all things photographic.
Biography
Ellen relocated from Belgium to the Cayman Islands in 2009, and recently to the UK. She has a master’s degree in modern history and education. After a career in IT, she home schooled her two gifted teenagers.
She took up scuba diving in June 2011, soon became a Master Scuba Diver and combined it with photographing the wonders of the underwater world.
Ellen’s main drive is shooting images that contribute to achieving goals in conservation of marine life and education about the importance of our oceans, and to capture the hearts and the will-to-act before it’s too late. Her basic concern is the decay of the oceans by pollution, overfishing, the brutal act of shark finning and dolphin and whale slaughtering.
Ellen has received numerous awards for her pictures and was the 2013 World Champion in the yearly online underwater photo competition underwaterphotography.com. June 2014 and again 2015, she became first and second in the United Nations’ World Oceans Day Photo Competition.
Ellen’s work can be seen in exhibitions in Paris, St Petersburg, Valencia, Marseille and New York. June 2017 she addressed Heads of State on World Oceans Day at the General Assembly of the United Nations, highlighting the plight of photographers and film-makers engaging in protection of the oceans.
She curates the UN WOD Photo competition and developed a Charter of commitments regarding ethics for UN and UNESCO. As a Fellow Explorer International, she became a member of the Flag and Honours Committee of the Explorers Club, having a front seat at future explorations!
In 2019, she was inducted in the Women Divers Hall of Fame.
A two-day ticket (Friday and Saturday) costs just £69 (but has a value of nearly £140!), and includes two days of diving in the attraction-rich waters of NDAC, access to the talks held over the two days, access to the diving and photo workshops (subject to space – the tech trydives and skill development sessions have limited slots, so early booking to get your name down is advised), social on the Friday evening, limited-edition T-shirt (strictly for the first 100 ticket holders), 12-month subscription to Scuba Diver magazine, a weekend ticket to the main GO Diving Show in March 2022, and SUP and kayak sessions.
A Friday one-day ticket is £45 (with a value of £110), and includes a day of diving, access to the talks held over the two days, access to the diving and photo workshops (subject to space – the tech trydives and skill development sessions have limited slots, so early booking to get your name down is advised), social on the Friday evening, limited-edition T-shirt (strictly for the first 100 ticket holders), 12-month subscription to Scuba Diver magazine, and a weekend ticket to the main GO Diving Show in March 2022 and SUP and kayak sessions.
A Saturday one-day ticket is £27.50 (with a value of £32) and includes a day of diving, and access to the talks and the workshops.
A two-day non-diver ticket is £25 (with a value of £30) and this gives access to all of the talks and surface workshops, and the Friday evening BBQ.
