OSC - Key Persons
Ian Todd - Managing Director
I have always been drawn to the ocean, and marine mammals have been a fascination of mine ever since I was a child, filling my room with everything dolphin I could find and taking every opportunity I could to see them in the wild. I studied a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth, which took me to Greece for my dissertation on the distribution of dolphins in the Ionian Sea in relation to environmental variables. I then stayed put to complete an MSc in Applied Marine Science, opting to investigate the ecology of bottlenose dolphins in the Shannon Estuary in Ireland for my thesis.
I participated in various volunteer projects, including studying bottlenose dolphins and porpoises in Wales and humpback dolphins in Australia, before joining OSC in 2012 as an MMO and PAM Operator, followed by Research Assistant and finally Marine Scientist. It was a really varied role that took me around the world and enabled me to get stuck into many fascinating research projects, including being an author of the MMO and PAM Handbook. Following a break from OSC, I have rejoined the team as Research Coordinator and am helping to drive OSC's research department as it progresses in the acoustic and rigs-to-reefs/decommissioning fields.
I have always been interested in nature, animals, and the ocean, but my desire to launch a career in marine conservation came later in life. I grew up in rural western Pennsylvania before moving to Philadelphia, where I obtained my BA in Film and Media Arts from Temple University. After university, I moved to Los Angeles to follow my dream of working in the film industry.
For 15 years, I worked in post-production in the film industry, primarily as an assistant editor. During this time, I began volunteering locally at the Heal the Bay Aquarium in Santa Monica. It was at Heal the Bay where I truly fell in love with sea creatures and felt the pull to get involved in more marine conservation projects. I volunteered with organisations in Belize, Cambodia, and Slovenia, while also maintaining my long-term volunteer status at the aquarium (9 years and 1100+ hours!). During 2020 and the COVID lockdowns, I decided that I wanted to pursue my goal of contributing to marine conservation full time, and in 2022 I was accepted to the Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology MSc programme at the University of Aberdeen. I traded the sunny skies Los Angeles for the beautiful greys of Aberdeen, where I completed my master's degree in 2023. My thesis was on the essential habitats of herring and sprat in the North Sea in a time of uncertainty regarding offshore renewable energy developments, fisheries, and climate change.
The opportunity to work as a report writer at OSC was a compelling factor in my decision to remain in the UK after graduation, rather than return to the United States. I am excited to apply my skills to write reports, to learn more about MMO and PAM work, and to contribute to meaningful marine mammal consultancy work. In my spare time I enjoy baking, knitting, and exploring the outdoors in bonnie Scotland.