Owen is a coastal scientist with over 18 years’ experience in developing and implementing projects in the Caribbean with a focus on ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change, fisheries, marine protected areas, sustainable livelihoods and vulnerability assessments. He has an extensive track record of successful project development and implementation with a wide range of donors, including multilateral, bilateral organisations, foundations and the private sector. He specialises in coordinating complex activities with multiple stakeholders and has a special interest in the science-policy interface and implementation at the community level.

Owen was born in Scotland in 1965, and has lived in Australia, USA, France, England and Trinidad and Tobago.  He obtained his Baccalaureate in France in 1983, and then studied Biochemistry at Oxford (1984-1988).  His passion for the sea and marine conservation led him to do a Masters (obtained with Distinction for highest class average) and then a PhD (1992-1996) in Marine Aquaculture at the School of Ocean Sciences at the University of Wales Bangor.  In 2001 he moved to Trinidad and Tobago where he lived with his family for eight years and was a founding Director of the Buccoo Reef Trust.  In 2005, the Buccoo Reef Trust was awarded the Environment Award from the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations.  After a period of working as a coastal specialist throughout the Caribbean, he teamed up with Newton to setup CLEAR in 2016.  He now divides his time between the Caribbean and a farmhouse in Dorset where he lives with his wife and children, planting trees, digging ponds and restoring wildlife on 11 acres of previously intensively farmed land.

After working as a senior research scientist in marine fish aquaculture for CEFAS (https://www.cefas.co.uk/) (1997-2001), Owen moved with his wife and three children to Tobago to start up the Buccoo Reef Trust (BRT), a not-for-profit company focusing on marine research, education and conservation.  He lived in Tobago for eight years and as director of the BRT helped expand the programmes with numerous grants and awards, including the Environment Award in 2004, from the World Association of Non-Governmental Organisations and the Green Leaf Award from the Environmental Management Authority.  The BRT became one of the largest environmental NGOs in the Eastern Caribbean with 18 full-time staff. In 2008, he joined the CARIBSAVE Partnership as Director of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation, and focused increasingly on climate change vulnerability and community resilience.  He led the Caribbean Fish Sanctuary Partnership Initiative (C-FISH), a four-year project funded by UKAID that helped increase the management of 11 community-based marine protected areas in Jamaica, St Lucia, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines. C-FISH also created new partnerships with the private sector that helped vulnerable communities diversify their livelihoods into offshore fishing, craft production, community-based tourism and coral restoration. C-FISH helped create several models of success.

In 2016, Owen established CLEAR Caribbean with Newton Eristhee, a long-term colleague and collaborator on the C-FISH project.  Owen is an experienced diver and underwater videographer. He has given over one hundred presentations at national and regional meetings, and has an extensive international network of contacts in his field.