Tamra Werner
Tamra Werner is a single mother of three children, Natalie (husband Alex), Jacob, and youngest Kai, whose name means ocean. She works for a prominent university and loves marine life and the oceans. Tamra holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts and Sciences, a MicroMasters in Design Thinking, and a Master of Science in Higher Education and Leadership Communication.
Koli, The Great White Shark, was born from the creative minds of her children while playing with their great white shark puppet they named Koli. Each night, Tamra and her children would make up stories about their fictional friend, and she promised she would one day write a book on Koli. A decade later, Koli's Birthday Adventure book was released worldwide on her birthday. Children fell in love with the enduring character and wanted him to have a friend, which inspired her to write Koli's Friendship Adventure.
Tamra learned of the organization OCEARCH during her research and joined them on a shark expedition in Nantucket in 2019. Their mutual love for sharks and children resulted in a licensed partnership with her book Koli's Friendship Adventure, giving a portion of the book proceeds to benefit OCEARCH's research and STEM programs.
In honor of Tamra's parents, Bill and Joyce, she published her second book on their 60th anniversary.