Marie was certified in 1969. Since then, she has promoted marine conservation through photographs, magazine articles, journal papers and books. She is Founder and Executive Director of the Shark Research Institute (SRI). SRI's focus is creating value for sharks as living economic resources for the dive tourism industry. In October 1999, as a direct result of SRI’s work in Honduras, that government declared the whale shark a protected species in their territorial waters, and SRI was successful in securing protection for sharks on CITES Appendix II -- Whale shark and basking shark (2002), white shark (2004), hammerhead sharks (great, smooth & scalloped), oceanic whitetip shark and manta rays (2013).