Dan Haifley, Executive Director
Mr. Haifley has been Executive Director of O'Neill Sea Odyssey since 1999. He has raised funds for its core and special programs, tens of thousands of youth have been served and he is a leading advocate for hands-on environmental education, presenting papers at numerous conferences. Dan served as Chief Aide and District Chief of Staff for the late California Senate Majority Leader Henry J. Mello from 1993 until 1996; Executive Director of Save Our Shores from 1986 to 1993; and Community Affairs Officer for PG&E in the Monterey Bay from 1997 to 1999. Dan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He serves on the Santa Cruz County Commission on the Environment and on the Dominican Hospital Community Advisors Committee and previously served on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council from 2001 to 2007 and the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitor's Council from 1993 to 1995 and from 2000 to 2006, and in a variety of capacities as a civic volunteer. In collaboration with UCSC Institute of Marine Sciences Director Gary Griggs, PhD, Dan publishes a weekly column in the Sunday Santa Cruz Sentinel and the online San Jose Mercury News on oceanographic issues. Dan has received recognition from the California State Senate, State Assembly, the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments and the City of Santa Cruz for his efforts to help establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and to protect California's coastline.

Tim O'Neill, Skipper
Tim O'Neill has been a surfer and sailor for most of his life, learning to surf and sail at age five. Tim graduated from Soquel High School, and worked at the O'Neill surf shop both during and after his years at Soquel High. Tim started running the Team O'Neill catamaran when it was launched in 1983. He received his 100 ton skipper's license in 1992. Tim also serves as President of Team O'Neill and is in charge of the O'Neill fleet. He lives in Santa Cruz with his wife Lisa O'Neill, and his sons Riley and Connor and daughter Bridget.

Mike Egan, Skipper
Born and raised in Fresno, California, Mike's family had a summer home in Santa Cruz. He has lived in the Central Coast area since 1982. Mike attended Bullard High in Fresno, and Orange Coast College near Newport Beach, California, where he raced sailboats. Mike Egan worked for O'Neill Yacht Center for five years, and has extensive experience in the Yacht business. Egan holds a 100 ton master's skipper's license. He is married to wife Jill and has two children: Ashley and Zachary.

Laura Barnes, Education Coordinator/Instructor
Laura grew up in Santa Barbara where she became interested in the marine environment through diving, sailing, and exploring tidepools. Having been raised in a seagoing family, Laura has worked in harbors for most of her professional life. While attending San Francisco State University she supported herself with various maritime jobs such as sailmaking, spinnaker repair and hosting events for the San Francisco Maritime Museum Association on Hyde Street Pier. After graduating with a degree in Humanities from SFSU, Laura's fondness for travel led her to Alaska and Canada where she worked as a wilderness guide and as a naturalist for a charter boat on Prince William Sound. Laura joined the OSO crew in 1999. In her spare time she studies dance and music and enjoys hiking in the Santa Cruz mountains with her husband Sean and their dog Tripper.

Adam Steckley, Operations Coordinator/Instructor
Adam is a recent transplant to Santa Cruz from Miami, Florida where he has spent the last three years working as an environmental education administrator. With a degree in Geography and Environmental Studies, Adam has also owned his own furniture business and worked extensively with various habitat restoration projects both in South Florida as well as in the San Joaquin Valley. Besides a passion for tropical hardwoods and native plants, he also finds plenty of time for surfing, swimming and photography. "Joining the O'Neill Sea Odyssey program is a real treat. I'm very excited to be a part of this Team."

Steve Spiliotopoulos, Instructor
With over 600 logged days at sea as a deckhand, Steve has learned a 'hands-on' understanding of navigation. After graduating from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara he worked as a deckhand aboard their research vessel for five years diving and photographing the marine environment of the Channel Islands, both above and below the water. Steve moved back to Santa Cruz in 2000, purchased his own sailboat, which he sails out of the Santa Cruz harbor, and began working for O'Neill. Steve has been with the program as a navigation instructor for more than three years.

Erica Pittman, Instructor
Erica has lived in the Santa Cruz area on and off for over 30 years. Her love of Santa Cruz grew into a love for the oceans, particularly Monterey Bay. She has been a volunteer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium along with her 10 year old son, Kyle, taken classes in Marine Biology, been sailing for over 10 years and is SCUBA certified. She graduated from Chico State and promptly moved back to Santa Cruz with her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. After teaching for 7 years and stopping after having her second son, she has returned to teaching with the Sea Odyssey Program. “I have always loved teaching and the ocean so the Sea Odyssey Program is a dream come true and a spectacular program.” She has recently earned her real estate license and lives in Santa Cruz with her two sons, Kyle and Jeff and their dog, Kona.

Jay Weber, Instructor
Jay grew up in Santa Cruz where he discovered his love for the ocean. Jay credits his interest in surfing at an early age with teaching him to respect, cherish, and protect the ocean. Jay went on to participate in the local Junior Lifeguard program where his interest in teaching grew and ultimately lead him to become a California Junior Lifeguard Instructor as well as a California Lifeguard. Jay is currently enrolled at the University of California, Santa Cruz studying marine biology where he will graduate Spring 2007. Jay has traveled the world on surfing expeditions to Indonesia, Mexico, Australia, and Costa Rica where he has learned to appreciate the beauty and fragility of the oceans. Jay has become involved with the O’Neill Sea Odyssey program to convey the vital message of protecting our oceans and has the honor of being the first former OSO student to become an instructor. “It’s an honor to be working to protect the ocean through the OSO program, where the hands on fundamentals can be learned and to be apart of that connection kids make with the ocean as I once did.” - Jay Weber

Lauren Hanneman, Instructor
Lauren has lived in Santa Cruz for over a decade and graduated from UCSC in 2002 with a combined degree in Biology and Environmental Studies. Prior to living in California, Lauren lived in Florida outside the Everglades and it was there that she developed a love of marine conservation and education. She has worked as both a volunteer and staff for a number of organizations focusing in marine research and conservation in the Monterey Bay. She has worked for Team Ocean Kayak Outreach for NOAA since 2002 and has over five years of professional maritime experience working in public education and marine interpretation. Lauren joined the O’Neill crew in 2005 and finds teaching for the Sea Odyssey Program to be “the most fun and rewarding job in marine education.”

Celia Lara, Instructor
Celia grew up in Rhode Island and has enjoyed sailing since she was young. From a very early age she had a deep love and respect for the ocean. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2002 with a degree in Biology and a minor in photography. She spent a semester with the Sea Education Association on a 150 ft sailboat studying oceanography in the Caribbean. She also spent a semester studying marine biology in New Zealand. Celia moved to Santa Cruz five years ago to pursue a career in Marine conservation. She spent a year as a research assistant at Long Marine Lab studying seals and sea lions. For the past two years she has been working for the Monterey Bay Aquarium teaching on board the 65 ft sailboat Derek Baylis. She also enjoys racing Santa Cruz 27’s and Olsen 40’s here in Monterey Bay. Her latest adventure was taking photos of tagging Great white sharks in the Farallone Islands. Celia is excited to be part of the Sea Odyssey because she feels that education is the most powerful tool to promote ocean conservation.

Isaiah Meyer, Instructor
Isaiah has never lived far from the ocean. He grew up in a small fishing village in Massachusetts where learning to sail was equal with learning to ride a bike. Sailing has taken Isaiah to many diverse marine environments from the Galapagos to the Maine coast, the Caribbean, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. “I have seen the extremes of marine environmental awareness from the highly regulated Galapagos to a port in Malaysia where the trash and sludge was so thick you could not see the water.” Isaiah learned navigation from his grandparents who completed their circumnavigation of the world on their own sailboat in 1999. Isaiah has worked out of the Santa Cruz Harbor since he moved here eight years ago. He has been on the water more than on land, leading natural history tours of the bay by kayak. Isaiah has studied Marine Biology and Environmental science at Cabrillo College. He is excited to be a part of the Sea Odyssey program and to make a difference in people’s lives and our environment. Isaiah spends the majority of the rest of his time enjoying family life with his wife, Laura and son, Obediah.