Featured

President and Executive Director

Hillary has been a writer/journalist/news reporter since 1968, with published books about the sea and underwater exploration, and magazine articles including National Geographic, Geo, Islands, The Surfer’s Journal, Reader’s Digest and the Los Angeles Times. From 1969 through 1977 she was West Coast stringer for Ocean Science News, Washington D.C., and from 1981-1986 was ocean/marine reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press. She also was the former music critic for the Santa Barbara News-Press and is a long-time classical pianist.

Harry Rabin

Program Director

Harry Rabin is a photographer & filmmaker whose career has spanned science, environment and public entertainment with his award-winning films. His documentary work has always been accompanied by sound research to create informative and educational projects, and this intersection of science and art has led him to a career of environmental stewardship.

He is in charge of principal photography and videography for all productions at On the Wave Productions, and has acted as producer and/or cinematographer for numerous documentaries including Into the Shark Zone, Witness to Disaster, and When Sharks Attack among others. His documentary biography features natural disaster and wildlife coverage, and he has been fortunate to work with acclaimed filmmakers and environmentalists like Mike DeGruy and Sylvia Earle. His work has taken him to the front lines of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Santa Barbara Thomas Fire, the ensuing deadly Montecito debris flows, and to Russia, where in 2019, he documented Charles Vinick and Jean-Michel Cousteau on a mission to free captured orcas from the notorious so-called “Whale Jail.” His documentary work helped secure their release.

He is currently public outreach advisor and field researcher for Heal the Ocean, where he uses his background in film and equipment to aid in scientific monitoring and public outreach. With Heal the Ocean, he has been working with California State Lands Commission to manage leaking legacy wellheads. Through close documentation, he has developed better practices for accurately locating wellheads and safely containing oil during abandonments.

He is also an official liaison between NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

Jasmin Tupy

Operations Manager

Jasmin joined Heal the Ocean as Operations Manager in 2022. She recently graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara and earned her BA in both Communication and Art. While at UCSB, Jasmin served as president of Isla Vista Trading Post, an organization on campus which recirculates clothing throughout Isla Vista in order to create a circular economy and to keep textile waste out of landfills. As a surfer and hiker, Jasmin is passionate about conserving our natural spaces. In her free time, Jasmin is either surfing, hiking in the backcountry, or pursuing her artistic talents by painting at her home.

Noah Boland

Research Analyst

Noah recently graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he earned a BS in Environmental Management and Protection as well as an MBA with an emphasis in general management. Growing up in Ventura, Noah found his passion for the environment through surfing, running, and hiking. A prominent figure in the local music scene, Noah founded and managed multiple bands, co-wrote, co-produced, and performed on 5 full length albums, and performed in over 230 shows throughout California. Noah loves traveling and looking for new destinations to surf, snowboard, catch a show, and try new food.

Heather Hudson

Event Manager

Heather Hudson is a film producer living in Santa Barbara, California. The one constant in Heather’s life is her absolute love for surfing and the ocean. She begins most of her days with a surf session at a world class surf break in south Santa Barbara County, where she is known for her graceful longboard style. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from UCLA in 1984, Heather worked in advertising until she became a full-time mother in 1991. In 2007, she started her film production company, Graciegirl LLC, and created the groundbreaking documentary surf film, “THE WOMEN AND THE WAVES.” In 2016, the follow-up documentary THE WOMEN AND THE WAVES 2" was released to the delight of audiences worldwide! In 2020, Heather released “93 - LETTERS FROM MARGE,” a film documenting the life stories of Surf Pioneer and Icon, Marge Calhoun.

Heather has been a part of Heal the Ocean since its beginning & she is committed to ending ocean pollution. In 2012, she was named to the Heal the Ocean Board of Directors. Currently she heads up Fundraising and Events.

Hayley Sims

Operations Intern

Haley is currently a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara studying as an undergraduate in the sociology department, which she plans to graduate in June of 2024 with a bachelor’s degree. She currently owns and operates her own small business, specializing in the resale and repurposing of vintage clothing. Haley can be seen at pop-ups and flea markets in her small community of Isla Vista or Santa Barabra, combining her passion for environmental conservation and fashion. In her spare time, Haley enjoys traveling, photography, hiking, camping, long walks on the beach, and rock climbing.

Alison Thompson

Operations & Policy Consultant

Prior to becoming Heal the Ocean’s Operations & Policy Consultant, Alison Thompson served as Heal the Ocean’s Operations & Policy Coordinator from 2018-2022. Alison worked alongside Executive Director Hillary Hauser on sea level rise adaptation policy, septic to sewer projects, groundwater contamination issues, and plastic pollution prevention planning. Alison led Heal the Ocean’s campaign for Styrofoam recycling in partnership with MarBorg Industries.

Currently, Alison is pursuing a Master’s in Environmental Management at Yale University School of the Environment. Her focus is on coastal climate adaptation and policy, community driven sea-level rise adaptation methods, and sustainable water management. Alison will continue working remotely with Heal the Ocean as the Operations & Policy Consultant.

Kylie Van De Wyngaerde

Public Outreach & Web Manager

Kylie graduated UC Santa Barbara in 2019 with a degree in Biology emphasizing marine science and a minor in French. She has been fluent in French since the age of 5. After graduating, she turned her biology background toward film, working on wildlife productions under Harry Rabin.

As a SCUBA instructor with years of experience working in the dive industry, she has unique firsthand experience with the underwater world. She has traveled to many continents, diving in and filming any body of water available. From her home in the cold kelp forests of the California coast, to the expansive corals of the Great Barrier Reef, to the deep, shark-filled blue of Guadalupe Island, Kylie hopes to share underwater and coastal conservation stories with audiences on land.

Through Harry, she was introduced to the wonderful work of Heal the Ocean, and has been working with them on public outreach through media since 2020. She also manages the HTO website.

Field Advisors of Heal the Ocean

Heal the Ocean has an active Advisory Board that provides pertinent advice, as well as the means, for us to move forward with our Mission. In addition, we have Field Advisors, who are actually in meetings or on project sites directing, counseling and doing the work of active staff.

Harry RabinSummerland Oil WellsBoat Wreckages on beachesSea Level Rise (Photography/documentation)Homeless encampments (photography/documentation/removal of abandoned camps from beaches — **Harry Rabin**
Summerland Oil Wells
Boat Wreckages on beaches
Sea Level Rise (Photography/documentation)
Homeless encampments (photography/documentation/removal of abandoned camps from beaches

Rick MerrifieldSeptic pollution issues (Including solving Los Olivos problem) — **Rick Merrifield**
Septic pollution issues (Including solving Los Olivos problem)

Harry Rabin is a producer, director, documentary filmmaker, and the CEO and founder of On the Wave Productions, an award-winning production company

and a leader in high-tech camera and custom support gear. He has worked alongside Jean-Michel Cousteau, documenting the infamous Whale Jail in Russia, and has also worked with James Cameron, Mike deGruy, Sylvia Earle, and other notables on many documentary-based film projects. To lead Heal the Ocean’s work in solving the problem of the leaking oil wells off Summerland, Harry gives his good set of eyes for observations, as well as sophisticated technology – from drones and ROV’s to multibeam sonar, Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) and improvised metal detection – to solve the mystery of where the oil plumes have been coming from. He actively collaborates with the California State Lands Commission and the Commission’s contractors, InterAct, to come up with viable solutions for well plugging, and . his work is ending the flow of multiple barrels per day into our ocean.

Rick Merrifield, former director of Santa Barbara County’s Environmental Health Services, has worked with us for many years on septic pollution problems, including the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer Project (including Rincon) before his retirement in 2010. Rick is a seasoned pro on the septic pollution subject, and in he came to our rescue as we muddled through, with Heal the Bay, Santa Monica, the difficult process of working with State Water Board staff in crafting regulatory language for AB 885, authored by then-Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson to create septic system regulations for the State of California. Rick is now representing Heal the Ocean in our 20-year effort to tackle the septic pollution of groundwater in the Santa Ynez Valley – and most specifically to get a wastewater recycling system built in the community of Los Olivos.