Christine Dennison
Tim Taylor
Ava- forever in our hearts
Bill Weinphal
Tim Taylor is a member of the Advisory Board as well as an education partner and leads our technical scuba expeditions. He is an accomplished naturalist and explorer with over 25 years of underwater experience. He is currently president and CEO of Subsea Services., in Key West, Florida. Tim has owned several innovative diving operations, specializing in exploring new locations and sharing them with the scientific community and public. In recognition of his achievements, including his discovery of Sherwood Forest Reef in the Dry Tortugas, he was accepted as a Fellow in the prestigious Explorers Club in 2004 and awarded the Club's 2008 "Citation of Merit" for exploration. Sherwood Forest reef is considered a centerpiece of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve and has become world famous since its discovery in 1997. Tim’s experience includes 21 years as a US Coast Guard Captain, numerous instructor ratings, underwater photo and video expertise and extensive fieldwork. He has guided many world famous researchers and explorers on expeditions in the Bahamas, Cuba and the Florida Keys, including such eminent marine specialists as Dr. Sylvia Earl, Dr. Eugenie Clark, Dr. Samuel Gruber, and Philippe Cousteau. Tim has been awarded accomplishment certificates by the U.S. Navy, for producing underwater films, and has also played a key role in other projects such as the James Bond movie Licensed to Kill, and several underwater documentaries. Tim has worked steadfastly at blazing new paths in children’s education, using expeditionary and field techniques to engage young students in natural history, marine biology and environmental science.
Ava is part of our team of Mad Dogs. She had some pretty big PAWS to fill after Alice but she is as much of an explorer as her beloved predecessor.
Ava is a rescue pup as was Alice. No one wanted to adopt Ava as she had been burned and mistreated and left to die. When she came to us she had a black husky head on a brown husky body. She loves the life of adventure and always ready to travel but she is great at sitting in on meetings too. She is a trained therapy dog and knows when its time to work and be patient..this is not easy for Huskies as they are high energy all the time!
Ava deserves her own reality show , web site and twitter account as she has so many followers and admirers. She has been seen on TV , featured in the NY Times, part of a major expedition on the High Seas, always photographed yet she is very grounded.... just don's ask her for her autograph.
Ava has logged tens of thousands of miles on both land and sea expeditions.
Our founding Mad Dog team member. Alice was thrown out of a car in Greenwich village a few days before Christmas 1995. We adopted her from our friends at the animal hospital next door to our office and took her on her first of many ice diving expeditions. Alice traveled as far south as Key West and far North into the wilds of Canada.......She had a set back in May 2004 when we discovered she had an inoperable brain tumor. After a month of radiation treatments, lots of love and support from family and friends she was still chomping at the bit to travel. She was 13 and going on 2 again and showed us her true Mad Dog grit to the end. She had the spirit of a true explorer and adventurer that everyone loved. Alice was the "Brains" behind our operation and well known around town for her stunning good looks and charm. She is a legend.
Late Great-Alice
Rune Gjeldnes
Rune Gjeldnes was born in Surnadal, Norway. Growing up in the vicinity of mountainous Trollheimen, Rune spent all his leisure time in the mountains doing a variety of activities, including mountaineering and river paddling, gaining crucial experience from all seasons. He has worked at Marinejegerkommandoen (Norwegian Navy Seals) for five years, together with Torry. He participated in the Greenland Umanaq - Isertoq expedition in 1994 and succeded on the G2 Expedition in 1996. He reached the North Pole with David Hempleman-Adams (UK) on April 28 1998. 1998 was "A Year of Adventure" for Rune, with six different expeditions around the world. I.e. Baffin Island crossing, Mt. Aconcagua, Magnetic North Pole, Rio Merevari canoeing, etc. In 1999 and 2000 he was back in the Navy and planned, prepared and did the crossing of the Arctic Ocean with Torry Larsen.
Rune is one of the best polar explorers of our generation!
OUR TEAM
Bill is a native New Yorker who has been diving throughout the world for over 15 years. He is a certified technical Trimix diver, Archaeological research diver and underwater videographer. He is also a mountain biker, swimmer and former competitive collegiate ski racer. His love of diving combined with his video expertise have allowed for exclusive filming work on documentary dive projects of the luxury Cruise liner Bianca C. and the freighter Roy A. Jodery. He has also worked with Duncan Mathewson on surveying and mapping of the 1733 Spanish treasure fleet of: The San Jose, The Enfante and the Capitana. Having spent more than 12 years in the entertainment industry, Bill has created thousands of hours of programming, produced several independent projects and overseen large scale productions. He has executive produced, directed, shot and edited content for clients which include: L'Oreal, Victoria's Secret, Tommy Hilfiger, Elie Tahari, Virgin Records, sports figures ranging from Bode Miller, Jeff Gordon, Greg Norman and Venus and Serena Williams. He has worked with charities including: Amfar, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation and Gods Love We Deliver. Bill has produced entertainment packages for: 2002 Olympics, NY Giants, NASCAR, The Dave Mathews Band, The Rolling Stones, U2 and Paul McCartney among many other artists and corporations. When not found in the editing room, behind a camera or underwater, Bill can be found drinking green tea in his office.
Captain Gene Flipse
With a lifetime of experience on the water, Capt. Gene Flipse has been a US Coast Guard licensed captain for over eighteen years. Capt. Flipse holds a 100 Ton Near Coastal Master's License, as well as STCW 95 Certification (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping). A career professional, Gene has spent the last twelve years as captain aboard liveaboard dive boats operating on the waters of Florida; the Bahamas; and the Sanctuary for the Marine Mammals of the Dominican Republic on the Silver Bank.
Gene has 50 weeks of direct experience with the humpback whales of the Silver Bank, gained over the course of six seasons. He also has over a decade of experience guiding guests to in-water encounters with wild Atlantic spotted dolphins and bottlenose dolphins in the Bahamas. Gene has also worked and played with pacific spinner dolphins; pan-tropical spotted dolphins; minke whales; pilot whales; sea turtles; whale sharks; manta rays; and a wide variety of sharks.
Christine Dennison is the Co-founder and President of Mad Dog Expeditions an internationally recognized technical scuba diving and exploration company based in New York City. For more than 20 years Christine has been diving and exploring in remote regions of the world. Among her accomplishments, Christine is the first woman to dive and explore beneath the Arctic Sea ice and ice caves of the Canadian High Arctic. To date she has logged over 80 dives in this harsh polar environment. She is also the first woman to dive the dangerous piranha saturated waters of the Amazon's Rio Negro and its tributaries. Her additional diving expertise includes technical mixed gas wreck diving of historic shipwrecks around the world including the scuttled WW1 German Fleet of Scapa Flow in the Scottish Isles and the Bianca C, luxury liner and deepest wreck in the Caribbean.
Christine is an experienced technical Divemaster and mixed gas diver with cave, wreck and Ice certifications. Her expertise in operations and logistics of remote regions has been invaluable in consulting, organizing and leading expeditions for numerous film crews and scientific teams throughout the world. Her experience extends into working with advanced underwater ROV technology as a pilot and camera operator with over 3 years of ongoing exploration and documentary expeditions to the WW2 US R12 submarine in the Gulf of Mexico.
Christine is very active in oceanographic and wildlife conservation issues surrounding indigenous peoples. She is a role model for young women everywhere and passes on her expertise by mentoring, lecturing and presenting to student groups throughout the country. She is an ardent traveler and explorer spanning more than 30 countries. An International Baccalaureate graduate of New York's Anglo-American School and University student in English Literature and Art History. Christine is Spanish and bi-lingual as well as conversational French. She was inducted as a Fellow of both the prestigious Explorers Club in New York and the Royal Geographical Society in London. She serves on the Board of several nonprofit organizations that promote education, exploration, Ocean Outreach and animal rescue and takes her adopted Husky Ava on expeditions with her whenever she can.
Ken is a Science Educator/Instructional Designer / Technical, Ice and Closed Circuit Rebreather instructor. Ken is also a very accomplished underwater videographer and editor. Ken has numerous hours training and filming under ice as well as exploring the: Andrea Doria, U-869, Florida and Mexican Freshwater Caves, St. Lawrence Oil Remediation Project with Mad Dog Expeditions, Europe and Asia with USDA. Instructional Designer specializing in participatory science teaching techniques and kit design Former science staff developer with the NYC DOE at the elementary and middle school levels. 1998-2001. Specializing in inquiry & project based learning. Former exhibit designer/aquarist with the Exploratorium and Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, Ca. Ken has affiliations with: Catalina Island Marine Institute, IANTD, NAUI & PADI, ASCD, USDA and NY State Ag in the Classroom.
His Specialties include: Utilizing alternate teaching modalities that elicit active participation, enhance critical thinking skills and implement the use of current technologies to promote literacy (video & multimedia). Creating participatory science curriculum in kit form. Instructional Design methodologies including multimedia WBT/CBT (web based/computer based training).
Ken Koga-Moriuchi
Quest For Knowledge, Thirst For Adventure.
