Brynne Rardin is an award-winning director and underwater cinematographer based in Washington D.C. Her work focuses on hope and resilience within human and natural ecosystems.  She uses film as a medium to connect people to the ocean in ways that allow them to learn directly from the environment in an effort to facilitate global action towards protecting and preserving our Blue Planet. She is currently an Environmental Filmmaking Master of Fine Arts candidate at American University. She is best known for her directoral debut The Rebel Reef: seeds of hope. A story that follows the only divemaster in Tela, Honduras after his near death encounter and the journey he must take to not lose what he loves most - diving with the mysteriously healthy reefs of Tela Bay.  ​

 

She is also the owner and designer of OFAUNA, a sustainable and inclusive rashguard brand, working to educate people on a global scale about the immense need for ocean and marine life protection.​ Brynne's career started as a divemaster at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas where her encounters with marine life changed the way she saw the world and altered her trajectory towards protecting the ocean and all life within it. 

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Brynne currently serves as the Environmental Placetelling Coordinator for Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation. In this role, she develops and executes digital storytelling initiatives that elevate Black voices within underrepresented communities along the Chesapeake Bay to ensure their history and land are not erased and forgotten. She leads cross-organizational storytelling with partners including Ocean Conservancy, NASA DEVELOP, the Maryland State Archives, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the Pride of Baltimore II, and the National Park Service—writing and producing short-form videos that amplify environmental histories and mobilize communities to get involved in protecting historically Black environmental spaces.

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