OUR TRUSTEES

PAUL JACKSON

Chair of Board of Trustees

A graduate of Kingston University, Paul has a BA (Hons) in Social Science majoring in EU Economics and Politics, and an MSc in Charity Finance from South Bank University.

Paul is currently Group Chief Executive of the Hospital Saturday Fund, a grant making charity founded in 1873. Today, using the profit generated by HSF Health Plan, its trading arm in the UK, Ireland, and Malta, the Fund makes donations to medical charities and individuals in medical need. In 2024 alone, donations totaling £2.25m were granted.

Formerly, Paul was a Trustee of The Freshwater Habitats Trust, the Together Charitable Foundation, and the Association of Charitable Organisations. In 2019 Paul was awarded the Freedom of the City of London, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the charity sector.

Paul’s fascination with fish was sparked as a child and, inevitably, a love of sharks and rays followed as he pursued his scuba diving hobby. Paul’s holidays are spent exploring the oceans of the world. In August 2011, fate played a hand when Paul visited the Maldives and spent time on Guy Stevens’ research boat in Hanifaru Bay.  A week of observing and snorkelling with mantas made up Paul’s mind; he was determined to use his knowledge of the charity sector to help protect these magnificent animals.  In December 2011, Paul was appointed Chair, and he registered the Manta Trust with the Charity Commission.  Paul is passionate about supporting the Manta Trust and governing the charity as Chair of the Board of Trustees.

JONATHAN DIAMOND

Trustee

Despite spending most of his working life in the financial industry, Jo has had a varied life. He has spent six years in the British Army, worked for an automotive technology company providing diagnostic equipment for the F1 teams, played bass guitar and saxophone in various bands, rallied a 1957 race-car across the Alps and acted in a feature film, amongst other things.

Having retired from the heady world of finance in 2018, he and his wife, Camilla, now run a motorcycle tour company called Mad Hatter Motorcycle Adventures, taking clients all over the world on their Harley Davidson or Indian motorcycles to ride the most exhilarating roads in the most beautiful places they can find! He has never been busier...!

DR. EMILY HUMBLE

Trustee

Emily first volunteered for the Maldives Manta Conservation Programme back in 2011 and has since worked closely with the Manta Trust through her work on manta and mobula ray genetics. Emily completed her Masters in Biodiversity genomics at Imperial College London and her PhD on fur seals at the British Antarctic Survey and Bielefeld University. She is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh where she specialises in the use and development of genetic tools for informing conservation management. Emily works on a broad range of species including some of the world’s most vulnerable sharks and rays. 

PROF. MARTIN ATTRILL

Trustee

Martin Attrill is Professor of Marine Ecology at the University of Plymouth and has been working for 30 years to understand patterns of life in our oceans, and how human activity impacts those patterns.

His research over the last decade has been particularly focused on marine conservation and how we can manage and restore our seas, in particular the role of Marine Protected Areas and, more recently, National Marine Parks. Throughout his career, Martin has been a passionate advocate for the oceans and believes we should provide the opportunity to as many people as possible to experience the wonders of our seas, find out about the extraordinary life beneath the waves and how we can manage, conserve and restore marine systems.

As part of this he has set up several degrees in marine biology, including the latest – MSc in Marine Conservation on which the Manta Trust is a partner and aims to produce the next generation of marine conservation practitioners.

ELEANOR CURTIS

Trustee

Eleanor is a lawyer, author, photographer and freediver. She qualified as a lawyer with a London City law firm after an international career as a journalist, author, editor and photographer working from the Middle East, Italy and Africa across 20 very interesting years. She has a Masters in International Law from SOAS (University of London) as well as an LLB in Law.

After running a legal consultancy in London for many years, Eleanor is slowly putting her law books away in favour of breathwork and freediving.  Eleanor believes strongly in the benefits of breathwork for all and not just for freedivers. She founded The Breathing Practice in 2022, a platform to teach breathwork and to write about the benefits of breathwork. When not in the water, Eleanor can sometimes be found in the beautiful Austrian mountains leading breath work retreats that combine breathwork and hiking. She is also a keen triathlete and open water swimmer. 

Eleanor's fascination and love for all things ocean and water started as a child aged around 7yrs after her mother gifted her an illustrated book on whales and dolphins. She now combines her love of the oceans with her photography using an old Nikonos 35mm film camera to capture the wonders of the blue on black and white film. 

Eleanor is passionate about ocean conservation and was appointed as Trustee to The Manta Trust in 2024.