Team

Emily Penn

Founder and Director

Emily is an ocean advocate, skipper and impassioned expert on plastic pollution. For 15 years she’s been at the helm of change: putting the plastics issue on the map, shaping the conversation and catalysing action.

She’s sailed 80,000 miles – from the tropics to the Arctic – leading voyages that have changed science and lives. She’s inspired and worked with everyone from community leaders to CEOs and scientists to heads of state. In 2021 she was awarded the British Empire Medal by the Queen.

Emily Graham

Operations

Emily has almost 20 years of experience working in the outdoor industry, magazine publishing and operations management. She has also spent months on the water, running logistics and participating in expeditions.

Alongside eXXpedition, Emily runs quirky holiday lets with her family; and is happiest when up a hill!

Dr. Jenna Jambeck

Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering

Dr. Jenna Jambeck is the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering at the University of Georgia, a 2022 MacArthur Fellow, and Founder of the Circularity Informatics Lab. She has led science initiatives for National Geographic (2018-2021) and the Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative (2020-2023). She is known globally for her research on circular materials management, plastic pollution, and for the citizen science mobile app Marine Debris Tracker. Her scholarly work has been used in policy discussions through testimony to US Congress, G7 and G20 Declarations, the United Nations Environment program, and through her work as an International Informational Speaker for the US Department of State in 14 countries.

Dr. Taylor Maddalene Myers

Science and Research Lead

Dr. Taylor Maddalene Myers is a Research Faculty member in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia and Director of the Circularity Assessment Protocol at the Jambeck Circularity Informatics Lab.

Her background is in marine conservation, pollution prevention, and science communication, working on projects around the globe with organizations such as National Geographic, NOAA, and Rare.

Her current research focuses on the impacts of plastic pollution and tying human behavior and waste management infrastructure on land with that we find in the ocean.

Kathryn Youngblood

Senior Research Engineer

Kathryn Youngblood is a Senior Research Engineer at the Jambeck Circularity Informatics Lab at the University of Georgia College of Engineering. Building on her environmental engineering background, Kathryn’s work focuses on data collection and geospatial data analysis to prevent plastic pollution at the community level. Kathryn directs Marine Debris Tracker, a community science app used to log open data on plastic pollution.

Lucy Gilliam

Lucy co-founded eXXpedition, has sailed on three eXXpedition voyages and supports the project as a technical advisor and ambassador for the cause. Currently, she works for One Planet Port, tackling climate impacts and pollution from shipping.

Lucy is a professional changemaker with a Degree in Biology and Phd in Molecular Microbiology. Her career has spanned academia, government, grassroots activism and supranational policy making. Lucy has a life-long passion for tackling climate change and toxic pollution.

Elizabeth Pryce

Elizabeth has diverse experience from finance through manufacturing to the arts.  She’s a proud Trustee of the National Theatre and Director of eXXpedition C.I.C.

Jeff Twentyman

Jeff is a business director, consultant and a coach working in a range of roles across sustainability, governance and business development – currently with the Green Finance Institute, Blueprint for a Better Business and the Greenhouse incubator programme at Imperial College.

He is Honorary Professor of Practice at the Faculty of Law of UCL and sits on a number of advisory committees and working groups. Jeff was a practicing lawyer and formerly Global Head of Private Equity and also Chair of Sustainability at the law firm Slaughter and May.

Larissa Clark

Larissa leads high impact PR, media and communications campaigns for mission-driven organisations through This Chapter PR. With a background in sustainable development and adventure travel she’s worked with eXXpedition since 2018 to drive awareness, action and powerful collaborations back on land.