After interviewing a turtle expert for a school project about plastic in the ocean, Snell's Beach resident Riley Hathaway started Young Ocean Explorers (YOE) with her dad. YOE is a movement inspiring youth to be guardians of marine environments.

Her passion and hard work has lead her to be amongst the finalists for 2021's Women of Influence.

In 2017, YOE created an online educational platform with Greenstone TV. Thousands of classrooms around the world accessed it, with more than 2.3 million pieces of content viewed (not including the thousands of teachers that have used the platform for their classroom).

Riley with her father, Steve

Riley has interviewed surfer Bethany Hamilton, sailor Peter Burling, shark expert Rodney Fox, freediver William Trubridge, orca expert Ingrid Visser and explorer Paul Nicklen.

She has presented ocean adventures on local TV show What Now, sharing her passion for protecting underwater sea life with kids around Aotearoa. 

Riley has also presented at TedX, National Young Leaders Day and Global Ocean Symposium.

Congratulations Riley!