Robin Aiello has spent most of her life on, and in, the oceans of the world. It is her passion. Growing up along the New England coast of the USA, she learned to scuba dive with her family in 1974. Her love for the underwater world led her to Harvard University, where she studied with the famous palaeontologist, Professor Steven J. Gould and graduated in 1984 with highest honours in Evolutionary Biology (Palaeontology) and Geological Sciences

In pursuit of her studies in marine animal adaptations and ecology, she co-led many scientific research diving expeditions to some of the most exotic and remote areas of the world. For example: she lived in a tent alongside thousands of penguins while diving and studying jellyfish under the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica; spent over 2 weeks living underwater in a saturation chamber and diving up to 15 hours a day studying coral biology; dived into deep unexplored underwater caves looking for a rare shell species; sailed from Australia to Papua New Guinea as first mate on a tall ship for a NOAA expedition to a Pacific Ocean ‘hot spot’ that drives regional weather patterns; snorkelled within inches of Minke whales studying whale-human interactions; and dived with thousands of sharks, including Great White and Mako sharks, documenting their behaviour.