Q. What is the highlight of your career?
A. Freedom and flexibility! I am constantly in environments that are dynamic, and I am always learning. I have a great balance of travel, outside, inside, ocean, mountains, and home life. I get paid to travel the world, tell people fun facts about nature, and when I’m home, I’m out on the ocean, or creating new opportunities for children, adults, and veterans with disabilities through scuba diving!

Q. What are challenges you encounter in your career?
A. Distance from loved ones is the hardest part for me personally. The things outside of my control, like weather, dictate if I can work or not, so mother nature can be quite the challenge to work with. Lastly is probably people! Part of my job is customer service, so working to keep a lot of people happy and safe in an outdoor setting where the weather decides everything can be quite the challenge!

Q. How did you get to this career?
A. I’m a skill chaser. First I pursued knowledge in the form of Bachelor Degrees in Ecology and Marine Biology. Next I went after scuba diving skills and became a dive instructor, when that got old (yes, really), I traveled and worked in the hospitality industry, which is where I discovered the world of expedition cruises. I returned to the ocean and studied for my Captain’s license, and then I applied for my dream job! I picked up a lot of skills along the way, many seem unrelated to each other, until you put them all to work in one very niche lifestyle. I was featured on the “So You Think You Want to be a Marine Biologist” podcast a while back, and it gives a great overview of what I do, and how I got here!

Q. Are there scholarship or internship opportunities available with your career? If so, where can more information about those be found?
A. The Coral Restoration Foundation has an internship for highschool graduates through master’s graduates, and more can be found on their website! Diveheart offers certification courses for those already certified in scuba diving that are interested in working with children, adults, and veterans with disabilities while scuba diving. Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic do not have any internships to my knowledge, but National Geographic does have scholarships and explorers grants! If you are interested in getting scuba certified, I would also recommend checking out The Women Divers Hall of Fame website, they have tons of scholarships and grants for women and men!