It All Starts With Family, and Writing

My dad grew up as a diver exploring the wrecks off the Jersey shore and he passed his love of the sea along to me. I was lucky enough to be certified as an Open Water Diver in my sophomore college physical education class. But, after a few fun dives in Mexico, I hung up my fins for graduate school.

Then I started to work on my first novel, which happens to be set in the ocean. I am a die-hard researcher. I might love research even more than writing. So I decided that if I was going to have characters diving, I needed to put my fins back on. I bought some shiny new gear, signed up for a Scuba Refresher course in Florida, and one course led to another. Before I knew it I was a Rescue Diver with certifications in coral reef conservation, fish identification, underwater navigation, and dry suit diving, among others.

What started as research became something much larger. I've always loved the ocean, but diving transformed my relationship to it. Today I'm a passionate ocean conservationist who believes that the people who know the ocean best are the ones most responsible for protecting it. For me, diving is never just about traveling to beautiful locations. It's about understanding the role of the ocean in climate change, doing my part to educate people about our delicate ocean ecosystem, and working to protect what's down there before it's gone.

Credentials & Teaching

Given my background in teaching, becoming a diving instructor felt like a natural extension of everything I already do. I completed my PADI Divemaster training in 2014, one of the most exciting and challenging things I've ever done, combining rigorous academic and hands-on practical training. In January 2016 I passed my PADI Instructor Examination and became a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and Emergency First Response Instructor. I became a Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) in May 2017.

I am a specialty instructor in Wreck Diving, Deep Diving, Fish Identification, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Navigation, and Nitrox. I currently teach at Underwater Adventures Dive Center in Denville, New Jersey. Whether I'm in the pool introducing students to being underwater for the first time or working with more advanced divers on challenging skills, teaching people to dive is one of my great joys. Bridget Neary and I also host an annual PADI Women’s Dive Day, celebrating women in diving in the Northeast.

Field Work & Conservation

Some of my most meaningful time in the water has been doing real conservation work: replanting coral reefs in Florida and Bonaire with the Coral Restoration Foundation, accompanying researchers working to identify whale shark populations in Honduras, monitoring oyster reefs in the Bronx, and completing my training as a scientific diver. I translated some of this diving time into science articles for kids in Appleseeds and Spigot.

I also spent over a decade as a Dive Team Leader at the New York Aquarium, where I helped organize dive logistics, coordinate team activities, and share monthly marine life education with fellow divers and visitors.

Fins-Down Time

It's hard to describe the exhilaration of fins-down time. The moment you drop below the surface, you become part of something larger than yourself. And perhaps not coincidentally, I am now diving some of those same wrecks off the Jersey shore that my father first fell in love with when he started diving.