Let’s Grow. Reefs. Together.
At BRANCH we don’t just grow coral, we grow a movement – one where YOU can dive in and help us save the reef.
Join our caring community!
Why We Fight for Reefs
Founded in 2022 by marine biologist Max van Aalst, BRANCH stands for Building Reefs and Nurseries for Coral Habitats. With restoration, education, and community at our core, we are on a mission to restore coral reefs.
Max, a passionate dive instructor and underwater lover, returned to his childhood home of Curaçao to protect the coral reefs he fell in love with. Since then, thanks to loads of motivation, love for our work and our fantastic volunteers and interns, we are helping regrow Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) & Brain coral (Diploria labyrinthiformis).
And we are just getting started: We plan to scale up our coral restoration efforts, open even more nurseries, and launch a dedicated coral research laboratory.
Our board -
The Faces Behind the Foundation
Meet the BRANCH Board, four fully committed reef restoration heroes.
Max van Aalst
The MSc. marine biology graduate returned to the island he grow up on to fight for the coral reefs he loves. He loves to work in and with nature and can be found frequently under water following his passion – diving.
Noëlla Bérénos-Ruivenkamp
As a strategy planner, vision developer, organizational developer and HR manager Noëlla provides a variety of expertise to BRANCH. She is passionate and brings high positive energy to the team.
Max van Aalst Senior
The Master of Informatics and experienced business consultant and manager lives on Curacao since 2006 where he owned a diving school and worked as a consultant and director of a government entity. He believes that a combination of passion and business acumen leads to best results.
Natascha Borgstein
Being a MSc in Marine Biology Natascha started off conducting research on the island in 2022, which eventually lead her to moving permanently to Curaçao in 2023 and quickly becoming involved in Coral Conservation. She is a dedicated and published researcher in the field of coral reef ecosystems. Her photography and videography skills are an important asset of BRANCH and she believes in the power of optimism.
Our employee: Merlijn Jonas
As a trained nurse, Merlijn loves to care and his heart beats for the ocean. This passionate dive instructor is working at Dive Center Porto Mari Sports and at BRANCH, where he can care for something he deeply loves and gets to spend more time in his happy place: Under water.
Our interns
Together, we can protect our oceans and ensure a thriving underwater ecosystem.
Noa Jongkees
Noa, 22, studies Landscape & Environment Management in Delft. She is currently interning at BRANCH, researching coral and exploring the different restoration methods applied to support coral recovery and conservation.
Noa Jongkees
Tessa Breedveld
Tessa Breedveld, 21, studies Communication at HAN University in Nijmegen. This year, she is managing BRANCH’s website, social media, and events, bringing creativity and energy to the team to help share BRANCH’s story..
Tessa Breedveld
Maud Jilesen
Maud Jilesen, 20, studies Environmental Science at HAS University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. During her internship at BRANCH, she researched coral growth rates and assisted with coral cleaning after earning her diving certification, contributing to BRANCH’s ongoing conservation efforts.
Maud Jilesen
Maren van der Vliet
Maren van der Vliet, 21, studies Environmental Science at HAS Green Academy. She is completing a five-month internship at BRANCH Coral Foundation, researching how various factors affect the growth of staghorn coral across the foundation’s seven nurseries.
Maren van der Vliet
Oscar van Polen
Oscar recently finished his studies in Environmental Science. Before continuing his Masters he decided to join our team to get some hands-on experience. We love to have Oscar around.
Oscar van Polen
Ines Zimmermann
After deciding to go back to study Ocean Conservation Ines wanted to do an internship in the field. At BRANCH she was responsible for Marketing and the Relaunch and concept of this beautiful website.
Ines Zimmermann
Our volunteer of the month - Susan Langston
This month, we’re putting the spotlight on our amazing volunteer Sue.
Sue joined us for a total of 8 dives this month, playing an important role in maintaining our coral nurseries and helping with coral outplanting. Her enthusiasm, commitment, and passion for the ocean have made her a truly valued volunteer for our team.
Thank you Sue; for your time, energy, and dedication!
Our volunteers
Together, we can protect our oceans and ensure a thriving underwater ecosystem.
Financial reports
We are proud to share our financial report 2023. Because of our fantastic community of partners, volunteers, interns and sponsors, we have already reached a lot – and there is more to come.
You want to become part of our team?
Are you interested to intern or volunteer with us? Check out the prerequisites an apply now.