It's been a steep learning curve!" quips Richard Winchell, summing up the twists and turns in his career that have taken him from teaching to promoting and preserving Bermuda's marine life and environment to the booming international insurance sector.

It seems the one thing that has been pretty constant in his professional life is change, and he actually appears to thrive on that fact repeatedly revelling in the role of 'change agent' in each organisation he has joined.

"I'm paraphrasing Darwin here, but he said something to the effect that the species who survive are the ones that are most responsive to change," says Mr. Winchell, 50. "I've always enjoyed being in an environment where people are empowered to make things happen and make changes. I'm somewhat ADD I'm sure, that's what my wife says anyway!"

And his latest professional adventure, as director, Bermuda operations of Strategic Risk Solutions (SRS), provides another opportunity for the man many people still associate with the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo to shine in a managerial and development role. The company provides captive management, underwriting management and wholesale brokerage services to the alternative risk marketplace, and has offices in Vermont, the Cayman Islands and Boston as well as Bermuda. He is responsible for the management and growth of the company's Bermuda operations.

"SRS wanted to build up their core business which is basically captive consulting and grow new business, and they wanted to build up the Bermuda office as part of that," Mr. Winchell says. "I was brought on as a manager and developer and it's great to be part of the team here. For a company of just 35 people there's a huge amount of expertise within the team. And people are encouraged to be innovative and find different solutions for clients ? we were the first insurance manager to put ERISA benefits in a captive for example. That level of innovation really drives the company."

ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) is the federal law in the US which established legal guidelines for private pension plan administration and investment practices.

He adds that they are also aggressive in terms of growing their business, as indicated by them creating SRS Access which was launched in June to complement their captive management services and "fulfil the need for a truly independent brokerage option in the Bermuda market".

In the first 90 days of its business SRS Access was already busy, placing insurance in a variety of deals including a multi-million dollar D&O (directors and officers) policy with ACE Bermuda, a quota share property programme for a major real estate client with three Bermuda entities, excess property for an Irish pharmaceutical company and a primary property placement for a coal mining company.

As he explains all of these developments it's hard to believe that he is not a veteran of the insurance industry, such is his adaptability.

"I trained as a teacher and it's very good training actually," he says, "it gives you the skills for success that you'll need in any career."

A former student of Warwick Academy and the Bermuda Institute (BI), he subsequently went on to graduate with a BSc degree from Atlantic Union College in Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1974. He returned home to Bermuda to start his teaching career at BI and taught Biology and Chemistry there for four years before deciding to go back to school himself, earning a masters degree from Northeastern University.

It was at that point that his 20-year association with the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo would begin. "David Lonsdale the curator at the time was leaving, and I had worked with him on what was called the Audubon summer camps for high school students previously," says Mr. Winchell. "What was great about those camps was that the kids got to go out to Nonsuch Island and they came back loving and understanding Bermuda's natural history, but they also had to literally live and work together in an intense environment. The kids were from public and private schools and some great friendships were formed; so it had a very good social element as well."

His interest, as both an educator and from the perspective of contributing in some way to social changes in Bermuda, was piqued. When his application for the curator position was successful he made building on the foundations laid for the Aquarium's education programme his first priority. In fact during his tenure the facility expanded and gained international recognition for both its education and conservation programmes, raised considerable funds for physical expansion and additional exhibits (such as the Northrock and Australasia exhibits) and achieved significant overall growth.

"It was built for tourists originally but I think it's great that it's become such a great place for everyone to have a positive family experience in Bermuda," he says. "And the people are great, very committed, they're there because they love their work."

He adds that for him a highlight of managing the facility was "really empowering people to make things better; that's really the best thing a manager can do".

According to Mr. Winchell that was also one of the attractions of working at Centre Solutions, a subsidiary of the Zurich Financial Services Group.

"After 20 years at the Aquarium it was time to do something different and one of the great things about Centre was that we were encouraged to get involved in a range of things ? it was a very innovative environment full of bright people," he says.

As vice president of operations at the Bermuda office he says he enjoyed "having the ability to make things run efficiently on a day-to-day basis" and he was also a director of the eVenture Centre, the 'incubator' for e-commerce-related start up businesses that Centre sponsored. When run-off proceedings began two years ago at Centre, he once again adapted to change. By the time he joined SRS last year he had over 25 years experience in operational management and the development of business and client services and his experience at Centre left him prepared to stay happily within the insurance arena.

He has clearly enjoyed his stint in the Island's international business (IB) sector and ultimately feels the industry is good for Bermuda, but his background as an educator and in environmentalism focuses his attention on the issues of education and sustainable development.

"What alternative (to IB) is as good? In terms of opportunities it's all there for Bermudians who are ready to participate," he says. "But critical to that is having a world class education system and the ability to compete on the world stage. We all really need to support the quality of public education here and make sure our youngsters have the ability to compete.

"Organisations and initiatives like BFIS (Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies), the BII (Bermuda Insurance Institute and the ABIC (Association of Bermuda International Businesses) Education Awards are great," he adds. "But they are all scholarships, so it's imperative that our young people in public education receive a quality education beforehand to take advantage of the opportunities."

He is currently a member of the executive committee of ABIC and is involved in the organisation's recently announced effort to survey the industry in terms of, among other things, its impact on sustainable development in Bermuda.

"We are impacting society undoubtedly, but no-one really knows how much, and there are a lot of things that have changed Bermuda over the years," he says. "The loudest noise on an issue sometimes comes from those with the least information. What we all need is data; it's good now that we have the platform that will help us to start the work to get that data." He and his wife of ten years Mary are still involved with the Aquarium ? he is chairman of the Friends of the Aquarium Board ? and he is also busy with community service initiatives that include being on the board of the Homes for People Initiative and co-chair of Communities that Care, which he says is an organisation that is focused on supporting youth by developing and co-ordinating parish-based activities for them.

"I think eventually I'll end up doing something that's like a community foundation that helps small businesses and individuals with responsible giving, helping them to make good decisions about where and how they give funds," he says when thinking about future plans.

"I mean most of us want to help others, and it's kind of selfish ultimately because you do get personal satisfaction from serving others, it makes you feel good," he says with self-deprecating humour. "But at some stage I'll go back to doing something that'll change the world."