Lauren Sanchez's Journey from Waterpark to Galápagos Conservation

Lauren Sanchez’s latest trip to the Galápagos Islands has put the spotlight on a journey that began far from the ocean conservation projects she supports today. In 1987, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ wife and former journalist Lauren Sanchez worked an hourly job at The Beach Waterpark in New Mexico as a 17-year-old teenager. Nearly four decades later, she is Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund and has been highlighting efforts to protect marine ecosystems. During a recent Galápagos expedition, Sanchez swam alongside whitetip reef sharks and shared details about their role in maintaining healthy oceans and moving nutrients across marine environments.

Lauren Sanchez worked at The Beach Waterpark in Albuquerque during its first summer in 1987, the same year she graduated from Del Norte High School. The waterpark included a 700,000-gallon wave pool and remained in operation until its final season in 2004 before closing in 2005. Her exact job at the waterpark was not disclosed. However, a former classmate, Kevin Gant, described Sanchez in a 2025 Times profile as “one of the most energetic and exuberant people at the school.” Sanchez later built a career as a television anchor and became a licensed helicopter pilot and author. Today, she also serves as Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, which was founded by Bezos and focuses on climate and nature projects. Her latest expedition took her to the Galápagos Islands, where she went into the water with whitetip reef sharks and discussed their importance to the wider marine ecosystem. “Some of them travel thousands of miles between deep and shallow water, and everywhere they go, they move nutrients that the rest of the ocean depends on,” Sanchez wrote in a social media post.

Sanchez’s Galápagos trip also highlighted conservation work supported by the Bezos Earth Fund. According to the information shared, $1.32 million from the fund has been allocated to conservation efforts covering the Galápagos Marine Reserve and Ecuador’s Hermandad Marine Reserve. The latter forms an important biological corridor connecting the Galápagos with Costa Rica’s Cocos Island. Together, the protected marine areas cover more than 202,000 square kilometres and provide habitats and migration routes for nearly 3,000 species. The Bezos Earth Fund has also committed another $60 million for projects across the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The funding is aimed at coastal restoration, tracking sharks and whales, and providing equipment and training to rangers.

Sanchez’s recent posts have brought attention to the role sharks play in ocean ecosystems and the wider effort to protect marine habitats in the Pacific. The conservation initiatives are aimed at protecting around 835,000 square miles of Pacific waters. Her involvement comes nearly four decades after her teenage job at a New Mexico waterpark, marking a very different connection with water today — one focused on marine conservation, sharks and protecting ocean ecosystems.