Dr. Marcus Eriksen
(323) 395-1843
marcuseriksen@hotmail.com

The man with the plan. Since 2005, Marcus has dreamed of doing a modern day Kontiki-style voyage, on a raft built from plastic bottles. After returning from Algalita’s recent Gyre voyage, he felt that the time was now. In March, Marcus, Joel and Anna dove in full speed.A Gulf War Veteran, Marcus believes strongly that he has felt a cause worth fighting for – sustainability. Full bio here, including alter ego Commando Weather Man.

Joel Paschal
(765) 430-7004
joel.paschal@gmail.com

Just 6 months ago, Joel was minding his own business in Hawaii. For the past 3 months, he’s been living on a boat in Marina Del Rey, designing and building Junk, to set sail June 1st.Resident filmmaker and self proclaimed "freelance errand boy". Joel previously worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he spent 4 months at sea studying marine debris. He "just couldn't get enough of trash", and volunteered to help design, build, and sail Junk, all in 3 months time.Joel will be documenting Junk for a future documentary.

Anna Cummins
(310) 998-8616
annacummins@gmail.com

Though aboard in spirit, her body will be very much on land. Anna will handle ground support - maintaining communications, press, and blog, while eagerly awaiting calls from Junk, and experimenting with reusable bags for distraction.Anna joined AMRF as education adviser in 2007, after many years of fascination with the plastics issue. She will join Marcus for the next phase of Message in a Bottle later this fall - a West Coast outreach tour, from Vancouver to Mexico....on amphibious bikes.

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