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This program aims to make the diving community a more inclusive space. Why is this important to you?

When asked to describe a known marine scientist or a SCUBA diver, I would guess that they think of a white man in goggles holding a beaker, they’ll think Jacque Cousteau, maybe. This is in stark contrast to the data point that those of African, Asian, Latin American, and Arab descent around the world make up about 80 percent of people in the world, many of whom are scientists and science divers. I think of the ocean as a connective space between many people and so having a diverse cohort can bring greater understanding. A comment that I hear frequently from people where I grew up in the Central Valley of California, which is inland and away from the coast, is that they very much fear the ocean, not just due to the strength of its water and current but because of the “vicious” animals that they believe reside there. I hope that this type of fear, whether of the ocean or of each other as different people coming from different places, can be dissolved. We can hopefully start building a cadre of divers from our respective identities and in places that perhaps have been overlooked or disinvested in before. I was really happy that my classmates highlighted the program in their film, Behind the Mask, and I was honored to be interviewed for the film alongside some wildly seasoned divers.

What is your favorite part about the program and/or how do you hope to see the program grow?

My favorite part of being in this program is feeling that I have more people to joke with and share my excitement with. I only knew a few people who had dived before the program, and next to none who were science divers, so I really felt blind and a bit alone going into this space. It is nice to have people who are willing to celebrate my victories, when others might consider those events less significant. I hope that more resources across UC San Diego and Scripps Institution of Oceanography are stitched together and more well-crafted for our program participants, such as swim lessons, yoga and meditation classes, mentorship, exposure to how others are using their diving, informal get-togethers for skill checks at the pool and pier, and more. This will hopefully lead to a shared goal that changes diving for the better by making it more inclusive, possible, and still leads to creating strong, safe, skilled, and confident divers for science.

What do you hope to do now with your dive training?

I have so many hopes! I have volunteered with the Bowman Lab on various tasks with their lab manager Caitlyn Webster, as well as with Dani McHaskell, a marine biology PhD student in the Smith Lab. I would love to dive to deeper depths than 60 feet and go through more certifications because I want to feel more confident in any location I might dive in, and become more comfortable with critical skills. Eventually, I plan to return to Central California (the capital, the coast, or the Bay Area) to be close to my mom. For now, I am so ecstatic to share that once I graduate from my MAS MBC program in June 2023, I will be a summer intern with Diving With A Purpose, the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center, and The Slave Wrecks Project at the National Museum of African American History and Culture of the Smithsonian Institution. I will be working at Biscayne National Park in Florida—a park that is over 90% water. This opportunity came by way of the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology, and I cannot wait to see where this experience leads me next.

What advice would you give to anyone interested in SCUBA diving or becoming a scientific diver?

For me, given the financial investment in this activity, it is important to talk about your return on investment and your expectations. The reality of finding one job with daily science diving as its main responsibility, and that allows you to make a very comfortable living, as well as stay close to your home community, is probably not super common. Find other science divers and talk to them about how they make money doing the work and find the community they need. Be sure to see if not only the purpose of diving appeals to you but also the context in which you will be doing it. I definitely came into SCUBA envisioning only diving in warm water and having incredible visibility, but I had my first open water dives in California at muddy Lake Tulloch and then in chilly Monterey. It was a reality check but I still loved it. I always run on the cold side, but with the help of reusable, medical hot packs (I highly recommend), plus training further at La Jolla, I am much more open to diving in any temperature at any location! 

What is one of your most memorable experiences in water?

I definitely remember being pretty scared to descend into the kelp forest in La Jolla during one of my science dives. It was my first time away from Scripps Pier, where I had gotten comfortable, and so I really worked hard to calm my mind and breath as I went down. But when I was at depth, I was completely in awe of the beauty of the kelp and was totally chill. Overcoming personal challenges like that feels like a constant in diving, and it is so worth it. I feel super fortunate to experience a world that many humans do not, and hope to continue doing it in the name of marine conservation.

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