I am Elizabeth I joined the SAFE team this year as a PADI Instructor. I was certified in 2013 and have 300+ dives. I got certified because I was taking a vacation to Australia and wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef. I was certified right here in the Pacific Northwest, though over the next several years I dove warmer waters in Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. When COVID-19 put a stop to travel, I began diving locally again and taking continuing education courses to further my skills, including training as an adaptive dive buddy with Scuba Access For Everyone. I never planned to teach scuba, but during my divemaster training I got to work with open water students. Seeing the light in their eyes, the look on their faces when experiencing the underwater world for the first time, and the confidence they gained in themselves in the process…that was it for me, I knew I needed to continue playing a role in teaching others to dive. I’m also a volunteer diver at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, where my favorite thing is the joy on the faces of little kids when they see divers in the tanks.

Diving has given me peace, confidence, and purpose. There is nowhere in the world where I feel calmer and more at ease than I do at 30+ ft below the surface. When I slowly sink down whatever stress and worries I might be holding float up and away along with my bubbles. The skills I’ve developed have increased my confidence in my physical and problem-solving abilities. I’m never more a super hero (in my own mind) than when I do a giant stride entry. Diving, especially working with adaptive divers and teaching scuba, has also given me a real sense of purpose. Over time I’ve come to see how diving can enrich our lives, our confidence in ourselves, our relationships with others, and our connection to our world.

My favorite place to dive is the site I’ve not been to yet! I love diving new sites. My dive style is low and slow, and I especially love any site that gives me the opportunity to look for little critters like nudibranchs.

Other person passions and activates include my two cats, backpacking in the summer months in the PNW, taking my two cats backpacking, knitting, amateur-level ukelele playing, and reading. I’m also an industrial/organizational psychologist, working with organizations, doing research and teaching aimed at shaping work to be a meaningful part of people’s lives.