Kimo's Scuba Diving History

Certification Synopsis

In 1986, I received an NASDS OW1 Junior Scuba certification, and after my sixteenth birthday, I was upgraded to a full OW1 certification. As a student at UC Santa Barbara in 1993, I completed the 100 Hours Course, after which I was certified as a University of California Research Diver (through the American Academy of Underwater Sciences - AAUS). Concurrent with the UC course, I was issued a NAUI Advanced certification. In 1994, I successfully completed the NAUI Dive Rescue and Divemaster courses. The following year, I completed an IANTD Level 1 course. In 2002, I completed a course in Deep Air and Advanced Nitrox.

Experience

Before I was SCUBA certified, I had already gained much experience in free diving, surfing and boating. While in Hawaii as a youngster, I frequented the beach on a daily basis, either to surf or to hunt by free diving.

After becoming Open Water I certified, I dove almost every weekend in both Hawaii and California. In high school, I completed 150 logged (and probably 50 more un-logged) dives. After high school, I attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I was certified as a Scientific Diver under the guidance of Mr. Dennis Divins. I worked in various labs as a research diver and general assistant. I was involved in university course collections, assisted in kelp survey, and research collections. Also, I assisted Professor Alice Alldredge in 1993 on a two-week field expedition involving three blue-water dives per day in the Santa Barbara Channel and west of Santa Cruz Island. During my time spent at UCSB, I completed about 90 logged dives at sites such as Gaviota, Refugio, Tajiguas, Naples Reef, Coal Oil Point, Goleta Point and Leadbetter Beach.

During the summer of 1994, I completed my NAUI Dive Rescue and Divemaster certifications under the tutelage of Linda Marsh (formerly Linda Bail). I worked as a Divemaster for Bubbles Below Scuba Charters, Inc., and Sea Fun Kauai during the summers of 1994, 1995, and part of 1996. While with these companies, I averaged about 170 dives per summer. The intense workload lead me to enroll in an IANTD course for mixed gas diving.

From 1996 to 1997, I took a brief hiatus from diving, during which time I earned a Masters degree in entomology (I logged only a couple dives in 1996).

From 1997-2008, I worked as a biologist in applied sciences. For 10 years, I worked with MBC Applied Environmental Sciences and then with Weston Solutions. My diving responsibilities were extensive at both companies, including subtidal surveys of fishes and invertebrates, video surveys of outfalls, kelp restoration and monitoring, eelgrass restoration, and current meter deployment. Currently, I am an independent consultant, where I continue to dive as a career, along with teaching biology and environmental studies at Santa Ana College.

Beginning in Spring 2000, I began a doctoral program at UCLA in the lab of Dr. Bill Hamner - we were interested in large-scale oceanographic processes and how zooplankton are aggregated along these features. I completed my degree in 2006. During my time at UCLA, I conducted diving operations in California, Hawaii, and French Polynesia.