Dr. Ian Garvin is the RDA’s foremost expert on Pandora’s oceans. Of particular use is his knowledge of the tulkun, which the RDA exploits to drive its hunting operations.

Much like his counterpart in Dr. Grace Augustine, Garvin began his tenure on Pandora as the head of a small team of researchers. He traveled Pandora’s ocean, conducting marine research and connecting with the local Na’vi clans — including the Metkayina. An experienced scuba diver, Garvin was willing to risk his well-being to track down more specimens and data for his research. Fatefully, Garvin discovered the amrita compound while dissecting the brains of tulkun. This landmark discovery kicked the RDA’s tulkun hunting efforts into high-gear, much to Garvin’s growing dismay.

In the wake of the Battle at the Three Brothers Rocks, Garvin’s distaste for the RDA’s reliance on his expertise began to spiral at an exponential rate. When he discovered Mick Scoresby’s plan to harvest years-worth of amrita from the tulkun Calf Communion, he was finally pushed to his breaking point.

Doing the unthinkable, Garvin recognized an opportunity to help free Jake Sully before his execution and took it, commandeering a heavily-armored D-22 Remotely Operated Bulldozer to shatter Jake’s containment and guide him to safety. Once free, Garvin explained the RDA’s plans to Jake, urging him to return to the Metkayina and rally a defense of the tulkun.