Who is involved in Terramar and is there a timeline of all events related to this organization and where these events occured
Executive summary
The TerraMar Project was an ocean-conservation nonprofit founded in 2012 and publicly associated with Ghislaine Maxwell as its president; it ran largely as a small, founder-funded operation with sporadic public appearances and little documented grantmaking before it closed in July 2019 after Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and financial records show a string of events—founding, public advocacy appearances, limited program spending, and rapid closure—that map to locations including New York, Washington D.C., international conferences and a UK-incorporated sister entity, but substantial gaps remain about on-the-ground program activity [1] [4] [3].
1. Origins and leadership: a founder’s project with prominent names attached
TerraMar was founded in 2012 by Ghislaine Maxwell and incorporated in the United States, with a UK sister organization appearing in 2013; Maxwell is listed consistently on tax forms as the U.S. entity’s president and was the public face of the group [1] [5] [6]. The group’s visible roster included Maxwell alongside named collaborators and occasional celebrity or scientific backers at events, and Scott Borgerson is reported as one involved figure who appeared with Maxwell at forums [7] [8].
2. Funding, staffing and the organization’s footprint
TerraMar operated on a shoestring public footprint but relied heavily on loans and contributions from Maxwell herself—IRS and reporting summaries indicate hundreds of thousands in founder loans and donations, and negligible program grantmaking in core years [9] [2] [1]. Financial filings and reporting described high overhead relative to visible program output, with the organization running deficits and owing substantial sums to Maxwell by 2017 [2] [1].
3. A traceable timeline of public events and registered locations
The project’s timeline in public records and reporting begins with its 2012 launch and early media appearances such as a July 2012 interview and participation in National Geographic and conference events in 2013, followed by Maxwell speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., in June 2014 and a TED-style presentation and university talks in 2014 [10] [4] [1]. TerraMar’s U.S. filings list New York addresses through 2015 and a Woburn, Massachusetts address in filings for 2016–2017, while the UK sister entity was registered in Salisbury [1] [3]. Public initiatives—pledges, online “TerraMar passports” and partnerships touted with groups like National Geographic—appear in 2013–2017 materials, but independent reporting finds little evidence of funded conservation programs or significant grants during that span [2] [9] [1].
4. The Epstein connection and investigative interest
TerraMar’s founder’s longstanding association with Jeffrey Epstein made the charity a subject of scrutiny after Epstein’s 2019 arrest; reports indicate investigators examined the charity as part of broader inquiries into Maxwell and Epstein, though there is no public record of TerraMar itself being indicted in Epstein-related criminal cases [3] [7] [2].
5. Closure and legal aftermath
Following Epstein’s new charges on July 6, 2019, the TerraMar Project announced it was closing six days later, on July 12, 2019, via Twitter and its website; the U.S. entity’s operations effectively ceased and the UK arm was officially dissolved later in 2019 [1] [3] [11]. Subsequent reporting in major outlets documented the organization’s limited program spending, heavy founder support, and quick dissolution tied temporally to the Epstein scandal [4] [2].
6. Assessment, alternative views and gaps in the public record
Contemporaneous sources portray TerraMar two ways: as a public-facing conservation advocacy project that secured speaking slots at influential forums (C.F.R., CGI, UN-adjacent events) and as an organization with limited tangible conservation impact and heavy financial dependence on Maxwell [1] [4] [2]. Investigative compilations and trackers point to TerraMar’s name in Epstein-related networks and event listings but confirm no public organizational indictment; however, public records and reporting leave open critical questions about the charity’s internal operations, program efficacy, and full financial flows beyond the summarized Form 990 data and journalistic audits [3] [9] [12].