Research Diving in Rhode Island

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(2-minute read)

Last stop before the end of my year? Rhode Island! Here I was able to assist the University of Rhode Island’s Diving Safety Officer Anya Hanson (AKA the OWUSS North American Coordinator & 2005 NA Scholar) with an AAUS research diving course. During my time here, I was able to see a bit of the University of Rhode Island, prep for the OWUSS awards weekend, and work on my drysuit diving skills!

One thing I wanted to get more experience with before my scholarship year ended was drysuit diving. I am a Divemaster, Scuba Instructor, and Scientific Diver and as a lot of you know, these certifications require a lot of training and skills to practice. I have done all of the trainings and skills in a wetsuit, and I was eager to do them all again in a drysuit — so thats what I did!

Divemaster Taylor giving a stellar dive briefing
(Left to right) Anya Hanson, Genece Grisby, and Katie Nickles getting ready for a dive

This week was full of cold water and low visibility diving so it was nice going back to something familiar and gaining more experience with that. I was also able to see my coordinator in a different role as a Diving Safety Officer (DSO). I saw more of what happens behind the scenes for DSOs before, during, and after an all-day course and it is a lot!

Genece trying the iconic Rhode Island clam stuffie for the first time (Photo: Anya Hanson)

During my downtime, I was able to get to know the “Ocean State” a little bit better, especially when it came to all the different local seafood they had to offer (it was all very tasty).

It was a quick trip but overall, it was fun to be able to get in a little bit more diving before my year officially ended. I am all the more confident diver for it, harnessing working in a drysuit!

Celebratory selfie for Genece’s last dive of the scholarship year
Anya (right) and Genece (left) after the final dive of the week

Thank you so much to Anya Hanson and the University of Rhode Island Diving Research & Safety Program for letting me help out with the research diving course. It was a really fun experience!

Thank you to the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society and our sponsor Rolex for making this scholarship experience a possibility. I would also like to thank Reef Photo and Video, Nauticam and Light and Motion for my underwater camera setup as well as Aqualung, Fourth Element, Suunto, Halcyon, and DUI for my diving equipment. 

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