We are incredibly grateful to all our colleagues for such an outstanding event, particularly conference chair Marc Slattery from Ole Miss, and vice-chairs Tyler Smith from University of the Virgin Islands, and Heather Spalding from College of Charleston. Ryan was elected to co-chair the next Mesophotic GRS, and Josh will rotate into the roles of vice-chair and then chair over the next two Mesophotic GRC cycles along with friend and colleague Gretchen Goodbody at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute.
Joshua Voss, Ryan Eckert, Lexie Sturm, and Ashley Carreiro had an engaging and stimulating week with colleagues at the recent 2023 Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems Gordon Research Conference in Ventura, California. This conference brings together the world's leaders in mesophotic research for a week of exchanging ideas and pushing the limits of the field. Josh presented in the Connectivity session and served as the discussion leader for the Disturbances session as well. Ryan, Lexie, and Ashley gave oral presentations in the early career focused Gordon Research Symposium as well as poster presentations in broader GRC. We are very proud to announce that Ryan was awarded Best Overall Student Presentation for the conference, receiving a beautiful Shearwater Teric dive computer in recognition of his achievement.
We are incredibly grateful to all our colleagues for such an outstanding event, particularly conference chair Marc Slattery from Ole Miss, and vice-chairs Tyler Smith from University of the Virgin Islands, and Heather Spalding from College of Charleston. Ryan was elected to co-chair the next Mesophotic GRS, and Josh will rotate into the roles of vice-chair and then chair over the next two Mesophotic GRC cycles along with friend and colleague Gretchen Goodbody at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute. Graduate students Haley Davis, Allie Klein, and Sydney Bell have been awarded scholarships from Women Divers Hall Of Fame for 2023! From left to right, Haley received the Instructor Advanced Education Training Grant, Allie received the Advanced Dive Training Grant - Technical, and Sydney received the Jim Leffard Memorial Advanced Dive Training Grant for Underwater Photography. These awards totaled to $4,500 that these students will use to improve their skills underwater, setting themselves up for great success!
Haley’s Instructor Advanced Education Training Grant is awarded to a SCUBA instructor with goals to further their own dive education. As a PADI instructor, Haley aimed to broaden her diving horizons in a number of ways including 1) increasing environmental programming she is trained to offer, 2) cross training into SDI/TDI instructor status to progress her career as a scientific diver and 3) instructing DAN Divers First Aid for Professionals to make her more prepared to handle dive-related accidents at a professional level. She is so excited to see how these training opportunities advance her career, as well as improve her students’ and teammates' experience in the underwater world. Allie’s Advanced Technical Dive Training Grant is awarded to a diver who aims to grow their knowledge of the technical side of diving, where divers utilize advanced techniques to safely dive beyond recreational depth and decompression limits. Allie will be utilizing this funding to complete mixed gas CCR training, increasing her skills on the Dive Rite O2ptima rebreather. This advanced training will make Allie a crucial participant on our lab’s technical dive team for mesophotic reef research. She is looking forward to the doors that will be opened for her through this training as well as exploring these mesophotic coral reef ecosystems. Sydney’s Jim Leffard Memorial Advanced Dive Training Grant for Underwater Photography will allow her to purchase new pieces of camera equipment for her underwater photography rig, as well as afford her additional training in photo taking and editing. Sydney will deepen her understanding of the specific challenges associated with taking photos underwater, and develop her abilities in science communication through her own sustainable apparel company, Tidal Tees Apparel. She is most excited to gain new expertise from professionals in the field, and for the ways in which this skillset will expand her impact on others for the protection of important marine species. |
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