“Why go anywhere else when everything you need is here in RI?” or so my first host for the 2021 OWUSS scholarship would jokingly say to me while I was there. As the Diving and Safety Officer at the University of Rhode Island and a previous OWUSS Rolex Scholar in 2005, Anya Hanson and her family welcomed me to the ocean state with open arms. This was my first time in their state and prior to being there, I for some reason hadn’t thought much about Rhode Island. Not in a bad way of course but in more of an absent-minded way. I only knew it to be the smallest of the fifty states. Perhaps due to its size is why I never considered it much before. However, thanks to Anya and her family, friends, and coworkers, that view changed drastically by the time I left.
We had originally organized my scholarship visit with some specific goals in mind. Yet, due to some medical issues that came up, we had to quickly shift plans. At first, I was a bit sad that we had to readjust, but Anya did not hesitate to come up with some brilliant ideas and thoughtful substitutes to make the most of our time together.
During my first couple of days in Rhode Island, I was able to see the University of Rhode Island and quickly started meeting some of Anya’s students and close coworkers. This included Alex Moen who served as the Associate DSO. We toured around the main campus of the school, and I got to see the university’s three pools where they conducted dive classes and training. While there, I learned that some of Anya’s and Alex’s students were going to come in and start working on getting their Advanced Divers Certification. The students began their list of tasks with Alex. Meanwhile, I was to be completing a swim test with Anya. It was the first test of my skills and though I believe myself to be a competent diver, I knew some of my actual swimming skills in certain areas needed work. I was especially concerned about treading water. With rocks for feet, treading water without any gear had never been easy for me and so I was extremely nervous at first but after I made Anya aware of my trepidations, she was more than supportive and helped me realize that with some determination and technique I was able to do it! It was a small but amazing first victory and it was from then on that I knew my visit to this smallest state with this person was going to be absolutely amazing.
We later visited the dive lockers and the pier on another part of campus where field work and field training take place. While there I was also able to explore more of the extended campus where I had the pleasure of meeting media producer at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, Alex DeCiccio. Amongst other things I was impressed to learn how Alex helps monitor live streams from research voyages and communicates stories with the Ocean Exploration Trust production team inside the Inner Space Center. Alex was an amazing person to get to know as we talked extensively about media presences and outreach to connect people to the depths of the underwater world. I was also able to meet Richard Vevers who played a large part in the production of the Netflix documentary Chasing Coral. He also serves as the founder and CEO of a nonprofit organization called the Ocean Agency which has been working to accelerate ocean conservation action through creative imagery and innovative technology. It was truly humbling witnessing some of Richard’s work and I couldn’t help but feel awe and excitement. Since one of my scholarship goals is to conduct more outreach and to foster connections with ocean conservation within minority communities, I was enthused to learn more about how others have successfully conveyed these concepts and concerns to the public in an effective and accessible way.
In tandem with learning about some of the ways the University helps usher communication with the topside world and the underwater one, I also learned a lot about how to utilize that communication but in a more direct way. Though at the time I had maybe logged a bit fewer than a hundred dives, my experience still proved to be somewhat valuable, as I was able to help the students I had met before who were working on their Advanced training divers by serving as a pseudo Divemaster. Though I technically did not have a Divemaster Certification at the time, with Anya’s guidance, I was able to help instruct and provide topside support to students when needed. Looking on the other side of the spectrum, it was the first time I got to witness what it was like to take part in more of a teaching role.
Another one of my goals for the year is to learn more about the ins and outs of underwater research. With my goals in mind, I was so thankful that Anya was able to arrange for me to visit the university’s main research vessel, The Endeavor. The Endeavor was built in 1976 and though she underwent some modifications in 1993, she was designed from the start as a modern oceanographic research ship. Sailing over one million nautical miles in support of science, this boat had literally carried thousands of scientists, engineers, technicians, and students on voyages throughout the world. As this was the same ship that people like Alex DeCiccio and other researchers sailed on doing amazing research across the Atlantic and Pacific, I was buzzing with curiosity. Imagining the highs and lows of what it would be like to be a researcher or documentarian on a long and arduous sea odyssey filled my head as this was my first time stepping onto a ship like this. Thanks to the kindness of the crew, I was able to view the cabins, the engine room, the on-board chemistry and biology labs, explore the upper decks and perhaps embarrassingly, grab more than my fair share of the ice cream snacks they offered me from a freezer kept in the kitchen area. However, in terms of my visit, I felt it was analogous to my somewhat gluttonous appetite for drumsticks and klondikes. I was steadily taking it all in (as one does with ice cream) and as I consumed, all it did was leave me hungry for more and it’s a hunger I hope to feed during my scholarship year.
Speaking of boats, Anya had also invited me along with her out on a brief research mission. We were to set out on a much smaller vessel, where she and another diver named Katie were tasked with reinstalling a part for an ongoing research project near the Narragansett Bay. I went with them to the site and while the water felt like it could have induced a 10 second bout of hypothermia, I still got to get my feet wet and see some of Rhode Island’s colorful ocean life in addition to the bridge and some of the quintessential New England type structures housed along the bay. It was lovely to see all the history and the simple beauty of the area and as we rode back on the boat, I started to understand what Anya meant when she said that everything was here in Rhode Island and why it is known as the Ocean State.
Little old Rhode Island is not only famous for its ocean faring side, but it is also known for having some of the most renowned universities around (and or being very close to many of them). Not only is URI here but schools like Woods Hole and Brown are nearby, not to mention Anya’s Alma Marta, The University of Connecticut which I got to visit with her later. As the weekend rolled by I decided I wanted to try and visit some of them and so I got to do some exploring of my own and walked around Brown’s campus. I also was able to see the school where Anya’s husband John taught and where her son went to school. As I walked around some of the campus area, I began to think of how beautiful it was to see not only all the diverse faces but the many peoples who outwardly supported diversity. Promoting more diversity in the realm of SCUBA diving and STEM was another focus that I wanted to pivot towards during my scholarship year. It was a topic I was able to expand more upon the next day when I got to meet Vincent and Margaret Malkoski at a little get together Anya had put together for me. The Malkoskis had come from Boston to visit, and we had a lovely evening speaking about my goals for the year, diving travels, fisheries and the proper way to say scallops! I had such a great time with them.
The following week was a bit less lax as Anya and I worked on getting through my Nitrox training, my DAN First Aid course, and some basic underwater camera techniques. After getting all signed up for the Nitrox classes, Anya went through with me the ins and outs of how Nitrox works. I learned about the different standard percentages of Nitrox, the science behind how the different mixes can affect your NDL (No Decompression Limit) as well as the potential dangers of incorrectly using or abusing Nitrox mixes.
I also got to take a look at how to administer first aid. We went over the potential causes that can lead to a medical emergency in the field. I had particular fun with this course as it was not only taught by Katie who I had met earlier, but during the course I actually got to sit in a classroom with other people and work in a collaborative way, a concept that Covid-19 has made feel somewhat foreign. In addition, I got the chance to use a training AED device, work on my breath/ compression ratios, construct and identify the parts of an emergency O2 kit and even breath a bit of O2 out of it! (Don’t worry nothing crazy). Overall, I ended up with two new certifications under my belt and a wealth of new knowledge. I was so proud to have accomplished so much in a short time frame.
However, I would have to say the best part of my RI adventure had to without a doubt be hanging out with Anya, her husband John, and her two adorable children, Adrien, and Sasha in my down time. It was truly heartwarming to be a fly on the wall or at times joining in the fun of them all just being a family. It was honestly a blast. There were rocket ships, story times and baseball games. There were bike rides, talks by the fire and early bedtimes. There was singing, piano music, visits from grandparents, neighbors, friends and lots of stubborn (but adorable) tears and I absolutely loved every second of it. I was so sad to have to leave and by the time I did I felt like I was missing out. Of course, it was then I knew for sure that Anya had hit it right on the nose. Why go anywhere else when everything you need is here in RI?
