Originally from the mountains of Colorado, Ananda Ellis was introduced to the oceans and snorkeling at an early age while on family vacations. Never having lost a fascination for the underwater world, she became dive-certified while completing an undergraduate degree in Biology at Lewis & Clark College, and later pursued a master’s degree in Marine Biology with a focus on Coral Ecophysiology at California State University, Northridge.

Andanda has lived in the Florida Keys since 2010, first working as the Marine Education Director for the Pigeon Key Foundation, and later as a coral research diver for Florida Fish & Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI). At FWRI, she led two elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) projects which monitored several of the last remaining stands of elkhorn coral on the Florida Reef Tract. Disheartened by the continued decline of this important reef-building species, she was excited to become a part of Mission: Iconic Reefs and help restore local coral populations along the Florida Reef Tract. She leads the Mission: Iconic Reefs field operation teams, which are responsible for monitoring at the seven Mission: Iconic Reef sites.

“The bottom line answer to the question about why biodiversity matters is fairly simple: The rest of the living world can get along without us, but we can’t get along without them.” – Sylvia Earle