Dr. Mikki McComb-Kobza is passionate about unlocking the mysteries of the ocean. A marine
biologist, explorer, and conservation leader, she is dedicated to advancing shark research and
ocean education worldwide. As CEO and Chief Scientist of Ocean First Institute, a non-profit
organization devoted to marine research, conservation, and education, she has helped reach over
half a million people through nationally acclaimed conservation initiatives and innovative educational programs.

Through research, advocacy, and education, Dr. McComb-Kobza works to protect our planet’s
most vital ecosystems for future generations. Her scientific focus centers on the biology,
behavior, abundance, and movement of sharks, employing emerging technologies to better
understand and conserve these keystone species. She has led or participated in more than 40
undersea expeditions across the globe—from Darwin to Cape Town, Manaus to Hong Kong, and
along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to Belize.

Her research has been featured by BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel’s Shark
Week, NPR, and CBC National Radio Canada. In 2025, she delivered a TEDxBoulder talk
titled “Fear to Fascination: The Truth About Sharks,” exploring how overcoming fear can lead
to connection, curiosity, and conservation.

Dr. McComb-Kobza serves on the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder’s
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, is the immediate past President of the
American Elasmobranch Society, a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, and a
National Fellow of The Explorers Club.

She holds a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from Florida Atlantic University and is the author of
numerous scientific publications. Mikki lives in Colorado with her husband, wildlife biologist
Mac Kobza, their son Nick, and their Labrador retriever, Cooper.

Mishka is a Bermudian singer-songwriter with an acclaimed and original sound of soulful vocals atop stripped down eclectic grooves. His music is a raw elemental sound deeply inspired by the forces of nature.

Over the course of his 25 year long career, Mishka has posted 5 number 1 albums on the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart, 3 number 1 albums on the iTunes Reggae Albums Chart and was named iTunes Best New Artist in the Singer-Songwriter category.

Mishka has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Rachael Ray Show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He has toured extensively worldwide – throughout the UK, Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Brazil, Japan and Mexico. He has also played many festivals throughout his career including Glastonbury, Fuji Rock, Reggae Sun Ska, Austin City Limits Festival, SSW, and Byron Bay Roots and Blues Festival.

His new album The Rise and Falling of the Tides, his 8th full length studio album, will be released on the 13th February 2026.

Evan Oberla is an artist, musician & composer based in New Orleans with a naturally dynamic sound arriving at an intersection between catchy melodious themes and instantaneous adventurous improvisation, all the while maintaining a fresh soulful groove. Finding expansion in the slightest of movements, Evan thrives in inviting the listener along a journey of rhythmic and harmonic expression. This trombonist, multi-instrumentalist, & singer/songwriter is naturally gifted performer who has delved into many varied genres in his career, honing a musical soup of influences into a style at once familiar to the ear yet uniquely his own.

After graduating with a degree in jazz trombone performance from the Ohio State University and getting his start in nightclubs, Evan has spent the better half of his career traversing the country playing shows & festivals, recording & collaborating, and forging his own path in the music world.

He has released a handful of albums & EP’s of original music with various outfits over the years, including Eyope, EOP, RFG Quintet and now under his own name, with his cast of bandmates taking on the moniker of the GROW.

Evan’s latest album is Canal Street Revolution, a double LP of compositions based on first person historical recountings of the New Orleans’ 1960s Civil Rights movement and beyond.

Along with being an active member of Flow Tribe and the New Orleans scene; a short list of artists and bands he has shared the stage, the road, and recording studio with include O.A.R., Allen Stone, Elle King, Brass Lightning, Miss Mojo, Mike Dillon, Theo Katzman, Swatkins, Kamasi Washington, Wyclef Jean, Bernhoft, Sexual Thunder!, Eric Krasno, Spoon, Rashawn Ross, Jeff Coffin, Deltaphonic, Sam Price, Burris, Magnetic Ear, Lena Prima, Afghan Whigs, Jamison Ross, Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, Billie Davies, Iris P, Andrew McMahon, Kelly James, Kumasi, Way Yes, Ill Poetic, Mojoflo, G. Finesse, Columbus Jazz Orchestra, Beethoven Found Philharmonic, Dierks Bentley, Cris Cab, Soja, Walk the Moon and many more.

Evan is endorsed by BAC horns & AMT microphones

Charles is a director, writer, producer, composer and newly minted tech entrepreneur as co-founder of Impossible Creative – an emerging company in the field of immersive entertainment.

Charles’s career began in 2000 when he directed and produced a small immersive piece of independent theatre in Montreal. The play starred his roommate, David Galpern, and was an unlikely hit. It  justified to his parents the need for him to take a gap year before carrying on to medical school. He’s still on his gap year.

Soon thereafter, he and David started a theatre company in Toronto called The Classical Theatre Project – which became North America’s largest producer of classical theatre for teens.  Through CTP, Charles adapted, directed and produced hundreds of shows which garnered Dora nominations (Canada’s Tonys), several North American Tours, and audiences in the millions.

For twenty years, he was one of Canada’s leading theatre artists, freelancing across the country, directing over 90 productions for such companies as Pleiades Theatre, the World Stage Festival, and many others.  His production of the Sanskrit classic play Shakuntala, which he translated, adapted and directed was invited to Vancouver as part of the 2010 Olympics.

His plays have been performed across North America and his articles have been published in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star (Canada’s two largest daily newspapers) and Toronto’s NOW Magazine – at the time, Canada’s largest entertainment weekly.  A freelance editor, he has served as a researcher, reader and Associate Editor at Penguin and Doubleday, specializing in Asian and Chinese literature.  

In 2009, Charles co-founded CTP Media with David Galpern, a media company that creates art and entertainment across multiple platforms.  Through CTP Media, Charles created multiple properties that have resulted in the development of a number of films, Broadway scale shows, TV shows, graphic novels, and video games. Along the way, they also built the LOWER OSSINGTON THEATRE (Toronto) a multi-purpose live event complex that fuelled the transformation of the Ossington Neighbourhood into the hip destination it has now become.

A few favourite experiences from his theatre days were: a collaboration with James Rado (original book writer of HAIR!) where they re-wrote the book of the musical from scratch: and a revival of ROMEO AND JULIET in Nashville, TN, that was so racy it led to an explosive culture war between Canadian and American media.

Another was a revival of CATS with an infamous hologram at the end that launched him (and David) into the world of tech integrations for the stage.

Since 2019, his focus has been fixed on developing immersive technologies, first with ArtsDistrict and then at the Impossible Creative lab in Toronto. With ArtsDistrict, his largest project was in the creation of ArtsDistrict/Brooklyn, a cavernous and cutting-edge immersive entertainment venue in Brooklyn. With Impossible Creative, his last show was in Riyadh for the United Nations Cop16 Conference called ‘Our Land. Our Future. The WonderRoom Experience’ and was seen by about 200,000 people over ten days.

A notable educator, Charles has also lectured extensively, including at York University’s Devised Theatre Programme and the Toronto Film School’s Film Directing Programme. A great deal of his educational philosophy stems from the pioneering writings of Bengal’s Rabindranath Tagore.

Charles has a BA from McGill University, an MFA in Theatre Direction from York University, and is a Fellow of Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India.  

He is fluent in English, French, Italian, Bengali, Hindi and Sanskrit – although don’t test him on Hindi and Sanskrit. Those are pretty rusty.

His work blends Indian and European dramatic and educational philosophies, a reverence for the spiritual power of beauty in all of its forms, and a deep commitment to the functional ability of storytelling to create community out of thin air.

David Galpern is a producer, founder, and creative strategist who has spent more than two decades exploring how stories can move people – emotionally, culturally, and at scale.

His work spans theatre, live events, and experiential installations. He co-founded the Classical Theatre Project, which became one of North America’s leading producers of live performance for teen audiences, reaching more than a million students across 90 cities. He has produced large-scale musicals, original productions, international tours, and acclaimed revivals including CATS, Grease, and Hair. He also founded the Toronto Youth Theatre, a registered charity that gives young artists the chance to train and perform in a professional environment.

He is the Co-Founder of Impossible Creative, a studio rethinking how experiential IP is created, financed, and distributed – merging narrative and technology to bring audiences inside the story. Impossible’s work includes a breakout immersive installation for the UN COP16 Climate Change Conference in Riyadh, along with several large-scale collaborations in development with leading artists and global institutions – including Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Questlove’s, and an initiative with the Vatican Museums.

Alongside producing, David has worked for more than 20 years as a voice performer, voicing national and international campaigns for brands including Acura, Air Canada, Rogers, and McDonald’s.

Outside of work, he’s a long-distance runner, a father of three, and someone who still believes there’s nothing better than getting people into a room together to share something unforgettable.