Hi, my name is Darian and I'm fundraising to support my passionate, driven, adventurous teen daughter, Sierra, in attending Broadreach's 17-day Caribbean Marine Biology Voyage in summer of 2026.

From the moment Sierra could talk, the ocean had her heart. One of her very first words at just one-year-old was "shark", and "Finding Nemo" played on repeat in our home. As she grew, it was clear to me that we weren't moving on from this phase any time soon - her fascination of the ocean, particularly with sharks, only escalated from there. Any opportunity to read books, watch movies, conduct her own research projects, or physically be in the ocean with marine life was fully taken advantage of. Now at 14 years old, she’s writing a daily “Shark Journal”, where she randomly selects a shark species and documents its habitat, biology, unique traits, and the environmental threats it faces.

Sierra is deeply committed to ocean conservation. After learning more about the impact of human activity on marine ecosystems, she gave up eating seafood and actively works to reduce her environmental footprint. To quote her favourite character Bruce from Finding Nemo: “Fish are friends, not food!”

Now entering high school, Sierra is serious about turning her lifelong passion into a career in marine biology. She started researching university programs at age 12 and began babysitting to start saving for her future.

That’s why this opportunity with Broadreach means so much. Their Marine Biology Voyage allows students to live on a sailboat for 17 days in the Caribbean, learning from a marine biologist, diving professional, and sailing instructor. Students will:

This is more than just a trip - it's a dream come true for Sierra since she was a toddler, and an investment in her future of helping to save the ocean that so dearly needs our help.

Sierra will be working hard to contribute to the cost, and with the help of family, friends, and kind supporters, we can make this dream a reality. All funds will go directly toward tuition and program fees for the Broadreach experience.

Any donation, large or small, helps. And if you’re unable to contribute financially, simply sharing this page would mean the world to us.

Thank you for supporting Sierra’s journey to help protect the ocean we all depend on!