Unique Experiences

Item Description

Lunch or Dinner with Michael Aw — Award-Winning Underwater photographer, Writer, Publisher — in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Michael is the founding director of OceanNEnvironment, a organization that  promotes and initiates preservation projects as well as endeavors to document the status of coral reefs, bio-diversity and the impact of man-made pollution through research programs, and measurable conservation projects.

With OceanNEnvironment, he initiated the Napoleon wrasse protection program in the Maldives, turtle nest adoption program in Indonesia and ‘Say No to Shark Fins’ campaign in the South East Asia.

As founder of Asian Geographic  and publisher of Scuba Diver, he used the magazines to support the conservation efforts of OceanNEnvironment.

Pursuing the art form of documentary photography, Michael is well known for his saturated color imagery. His work on environmental issues and natural history, have been featured in BBC Wildlife, National Geographic, Asian Geographic, GEO, Underwater GEOGRAPHIC, Nature Focus, Action Asia, Scuba Diver, Smithsonian magazine, Ocean Realm (USA), Time, Asia Week, DIVE, Unterwasser, Tauchen, and Aquanaut, to name but a few.

His photographs have received more than 50 awards from several international organizations including the prestigious Nikon International Photo Contest on three occasions.

Michael has won eight times at the World Festival of Underwater Pictures in France; in 2009, his 27th book of the sea – Philippines, Heart of the Ocean won the Palme D’or International Book of the Year and his audio visual presentation – Wonderful World won the Silver Diver statue.

More than 28,000 of his images have appeared in various publications and exhibitions worldwide including the Australian Museum and Queensland Tropical Museum.  Michael has presented lectures and slide presentations on marine life and underwater photography to the Australian Museum Society, the Australian Maritime Museum, the Oceanographic Centre in Valencia, aquariums and private organizations in the Pacific-Rim countries including the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

He has produced and directed two 24-hour photographic documentaries of corals reefs in the Australian Great Barrier Reef and the Maldives. A Fellow of the famed Explorers Club, Michael recently returned from Antarctica where he led the ElySium Epic expedition which created a visual documentary of the Antarctica Peninsula and South George.

www.michaelaw.com

Item Special Note

Being auctioned is dinner or lunch with one the world’s foremost shark experts or celebrities. It is a unique opportunity to “talk shark” face-to-face, one-on-one, with a real authority on sharks. 

How it works:

1. Bid on a celebrity, shark scientist or conservationist that lives or works in your area, unless you are willing to drive or fly to meet them in their area.

2. The winning bidder pays for the lunch or dinner and may bring as many guests as he or she wishes.

3. We will introduce the winning bidder to the celebrity, scientist or conservationist. The two of you then set a mutually agreeable  date, time and place to meet within one year of the close of the auction.

All winning bids are charitable contributions deductible from US Federal 2013 income taxes.  Funds raised by the auction will be used to support shark research and conservation programs.