Meet our team

Tripp Funderburk

Tripp Funderburk is the Manager of the Bay Islands Reef Restoration program (BIRR). He is responsible for nursery construction and maintenance; coral outplanting and monitoring; and teaching Subway GoGreen Divemaster interns and Turquoise Bay guests how to maintain the nursery and outplant coral.

Before managing BIRR, Tripp was the Director of Policy for Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF), and Director of International Operations at the Coral Restoration Foundation International (CRFI) in Key Largo, Florida. Mr. Funderburk also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of CRF, and as a Team Leader for CRF's education dive programs.

Tripp also attended the New Heaven Reef Conservation Program (NHRCP) in Koh Tao, Thailand, where he received SSI (Scuba Schools International) Ecological Diver Recognition for Coral Restoration Theory and Methods, Coral Nursery Construction and Maintenance, and Coral Abundance and Health Assessment.

Before working in the coral restoration field, Tripp worked in public policy in Washington, DC, for more than 20 years, including eight years as a legislative assistant on both the House Appropriations and the House Administration Committees. Tripp also worked in the private sector in government relations for The Washington Group and The Livingston Group where he represented Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, non-profit organizations, conservation groups, Indian tribes, and foreign governments.

Mr. Funderburk received his M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Virginia.  

Our Manager

Peter Kockisch became certified as an Open Water diver in 2012 during travels in Thailand. He immediately fell in love with the ocean and its bio-diversity. Since that time, Peter has pursued his passion for exploring the underwater world at every opportunity.  

Before entering the diving world, Peter worked in ecological tourism and species conservation and always seeks to promote environmental consciousness. Therefore, he decided to start his professional dive career with the Eco Divemaster-Internship at the Roatan Dive Academy, which partners with Bay Islands Reef Restoration.

Peter was especially drawn to this Internship since it included comprehensive coral restoration education. Helping out on the coral conservation project was eye-opening and spurred his desire for a new occupation in marine conservation.
After completing his Divemaster Internship, Peter relocated to Cyprus to gain more experience in professional diving and worked as a Divemaster for the summer season in 2019.

His commitment and his passion for under water environment brought him back to Roatan and we couldn’t be happier to welcome our former student to work with our coral restoration team. Since he finished his Instructor Development Course he will also teach the ecological classes and specialty certifications offered by Roatan Dive Academy.