Year scuba certified: 1990 Highest instructional rating: OWSI Instructor (2003) Additional certifications: AAUS Science Diver, DAN O2 Instructor, EFR CPR/First Aid Instructor.

Favorite dive site: All around Komodo National Park, Indonesia.

I am a Coral Reef Ecologist and Scuba Instructor living in Durham, NC. Are there coral reefs in Durham, you ask?! No, but as a Marine Scientist from Duke University, I am able to write grants and get funding to continue my reef ecology research in the tropics. Over the past 15 years, I’ve “studied” reefs in Australia, Mexico, Panama, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hawaii, the USVI, Indonesia, Japan, and American Samoa. Scuba is a primary tool in my research endeavors, so I continuously work to keep my science diving skills sharp.

This is one reason I became a Scuba Instructor. The other reasons – I love to teach and I love to dive. For these reasons, I also became a DAN Oxygen First Aid Instructor and a CPR/First Aid Instructor; several other essential skills needed for research diving.

For more on my diving interests and experience see: http://www.duke.edu/~eat4/scuba.htm