Nine More Women Shaping Our Seas and Surfing
Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
This is the tenth year for SurfWriter Girls Women Making Waves story focusing on nine amazing women making a difference in our oceans and in surfing.
Like the ninth wave of a set, that is more powerful than the rest, these women have had a powerful impact on the world. Surfers, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and more. SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel are excited to introduce you to this lineup of dynamic women.
Lynne Boyer, surf/ocean artist, is a pioneering two-time World Surf League Champion (1978, 1979), who got women on board the pro surfing circuit. Growing up in Oahu, she drew and surfed at an early age. After her professional surfing career, she turned to art, dividing her time between Hawaii and Hungary (where she has fewer distractions and can "paint my arm off"). Her “truest inspiration comes from painting 'en plein air' (outdoors)" and she “likes to add a stroke of red in my Hawaii beach scenes.”
Amanda Chinchelli, Seea surf wear fashion founder/designer, makes the perfect blend of fashionable and functional women's surfing apparel. Born in Brazil and raised in Italy, she came to California where she got immersed in the ocean/beach lifestyle. When she couldn't find the kind of swimwear she liked – “not too sporty or too skimpy" – she stitched her own designs that "looked good, while working great for surfing." Other surfers saw her creations and wanted them, too, and Seea was born in 2011.
Daniela V. Fernandez, ocean innovator and sustainability advocate, uses the power of media and technology to address environmental threats facing the planet. A Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur, she founded the organization Sustainable Ocean Alliance while a student at Georgetown University – a network of young ocean leaders in over 165 countries. Fernandez says, "We must dedicate our lives to creating a world that is in harmony with our values and hopes for our futures."
Pacha Light, surfer/environmentalist, born in Ecuador/raised in Australia, travels with an extra board to give away to a deserving surfer. Destined to be an environmentalist (her name “Pacha” comes from the Ecuadoran name for “Mother Earth”), Light is a UNESCO Green Citizen, helping promote UNESCO’s conservation and empowerment of women goals. She also has a personal project, Women of Sea, telling the stories of women in ocean conservation with strong connections to nature, such as Japan’s Ama freedivers.
Sawyer Lindblad, a two-time U.S. Open of Surfing winner before turning twenty (2023, 2025), grew up surfing at the iconic Lower Trestles in San Clemente, CA. The World Surf League Rookie of the Year in 2024, Lindblad has had a meteoric rise as a professional surfer, following waves around the world and becoming a role model for the surfing community.
Melissa Marquez, shark specialist, got interested in sharks from watching the Discovery Channel. With a MA degree in marine biology, she uses remote sensing techniques to assess environmental influences on them. A podcaster and children's book author (Wild Survival and Mother of Sharks), she contributes to National Geographic, the BBC, and more. A Forbes 30 Under 30 Science honoree, she is also a member of the Ocean X research team on the scientific vessel MV Alucia, seeking to unlock the ocean's potential to benefit people and the planet.
Jericho Poppler, the first World Pro women's surfing champion (1976) and co-founder of the Women's International Surfing Association, is known as "The First Lady of Professional Surfing." With multiple surfing titles, she started out in dance, learning moves that added to her graceful surfing style and earned her the nickname "Wave Dancer." A Surfing Walk of Fame 1999 Woman of the Year and California Surf Museum Silver Surfer (2017), Poppler is a founding member of the Surfrider Foundation and Surfing Heritage Foundation.
Ingrid Visser, New Zealand Whale Rescue founder/marine biologist, has a PhD. from U. of Auckland and been published in numerous scientific journals. A member of the legendary Explorers Club (founded 1904), Visser has sailed around the world, visiting over 40 countries. She's written an autobiography, Swimming with Orca, and two children's books, I Love Killer Whales and The Orca. Whale Rescue volunteers provide expertise and equipment for rescuing whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Roberta Wynashe, Surfrider Foundation former co-chair North Orange County chapter, is a committed volunteer/advocate for surfing and the ocean. While co-chairing one of the most active SRF chapters, Wyynashe interacted with Huntington Beach (Surf City), Seal Beach and Newport Beach to educate about the environment, coordinate beach cleanups, and share the stoke of surfing. Still active in the chapter, Wynashe can be found at the beach or on game days rooting for her favorite football team, The Raiders.
Like the other Women Making Waves, Wynashe goes the extra distance to make things happen. Her NOC co-chair KC Fockler (shown below) told SurfWriter Girls she “does all her volunteer work while living in the Inland Empire, sometimes driving over two hours to make our events here at the beach. We would not be the chapter we are without her steady hand, guidance, and vision.”
Leaders in their chosen fields, each woman shares one thing in common – a passion for the ocean and a desire to make the world better.
Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.
