I’m a scuba instructor, educator, Emergency Medical Technician, Certified Hyperbaric Technologist, cold-water diver, and lifelong learner originally from Corvallis, Oregon.

Scuba diving has taken me in directions I never expected—from learning to dive while studying abroad in Australia, to working inside a multiplace hyperbaric chamber, teaching in the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest, spending summers aboard sailboats in the Caribbean, and now working within the international dive industry from Germany.

But it all started with one pretty simple thought: I wanted to know what it felt like to breathe underwater.

Where It Started

I learned to scuba dive during my third year of college while studying abroad in Adelaide, South Australia. It was my first time traveling internationally on my own, and I was determined to come home as a certified diver.

There was just one problem: none of the scheduled classes worked around my university schedule.

A local dive shop agreed to open a semi-private course that fit my schedule, and when no one else signed up, I ended up being the only student. Without a car, getting to the shop and pool meant spending more than an hour on public transportation after classes. When it came time for my open-water dives, my instructor offered to drive me to the dive sites at Rapid Bay and Port Noarlunga.

I saw leafy sea dragons, seahorses, and an entirely new world underwater, but what I remember most from learning to dive is my instructor.

He saw how badly I wanted to accomplish something and went out of his way to help me succeed. I have no idea if he remembers me, but I remember exactly who he was.

That experience has stayed with me throughout my career as an instructor. Certifications may be what we issue, but the relationships, support, and mentorship we provide can have an impact long after the course is over.

From Diver to Instructor

When I returned home to Oregon, I became involved with the diving community in the Portland Metro area and discovered NAUI. I continued my education, became a Divemaster in 2020, and completed my NAUI Instructor Course in 2022.

Soon after, I developed a relationship with Thunder Reef Divers in Vancouver, Washington, where I continue to base my independent classes and operations. Through ML Scuba—Maggie Loves Scuba, I teach NAUI courses, work with divers looking to improve their knowledge and practical skills, and organize diving in the Pacific Northwest, including trips to Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Cold-water diving has become a big part of who I am as a diver and instructor. It can be challenging, sometimes uncomfortable, and requires preparation—but the Pacific Northwest has also shown me some of the most incredible diving I have experienced.

Diving Safety & Hyperbaric Medicine

My interest in diving has always gone beyond simply being underwater. I want to understand why things happen, what happens when something goes wrong, and how we can become safer and better-informed divers.

I graduated magna cum laude from Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and became an Emergency Medical Technician shortly afterward.

In 2021, I began working at Oregon's only multiplace hyperbaric chamber. During my three years there, I worked directly with patients and divers as a Hyperbaric Technician and later earned my Certified Hyperbaric Technologist credential.

My work included chamber operations, patient safety, emergency procedures, staff training, equipment and chamber maintenance, hyperbaric research, and process improvement. It gave me the opportunity to see diving safety from a very different perspective—from teaching divers how to prevent problems to helping care for people when things didn't go according to plan.

That experience continues to influence the way I teach today.

Teaching Beyond Oregon

My career as an educator began long before I became a scuba instructor, and teaching remains one of the things I enjoy most.

More recently, that has taken me to the British Virgin Islands, where I have spent my summers working with SeaTrek BVI as a Lead NAUI Instructor and Chief Medical Officer.

There, my roles as an instructor and medical professional come together. I teach and mentor divers, supervise and evaluate Divemaster candidates, provide first-aid and dive-safety training, and help care for students and staff while living and working aboard sailboats in a remote marine environment.

Working with divers from different backgrounds, experience levels, and environments has also reminded me that there is rarely only one perspective worth hearing.

Staying Involved

Today, diving is involved in almost every part of my professional life.

In addition to teaching, I work in social media and marketing within the dive travel industry in Germany, combining my interests in diving, photography, video, education, travel, and communication.

I also currently serve NAUI through both the Training Committee and Membership Committee, including serving as Secretary of the Training Committee. Committee involvement has given me the opportunity to learn more about the organization beyond my own experiences as an instructor, while working alongside dive professionals with decades of knowledge and experience.

I am a firm believer that none of us ever reaches a point where we have nothing left to learn. The more areas of the dive industry I experience, the more questions I seem to have—and I consider that a good thing.

What Matters to Me

Whether I'm teaching an Open Water student, evaluating a Divemaster candidate, analyzing a training standard, creating educational content, or talking with another instructor about a completely different way of doing something, I try to approach it with the same mindset:

Keep learning. Ask questions. Listen to different perspectives. Take safety seriously. And give people the support they need to succeed.

Diving started because I simply wanted to breathe underwater.

I had no idea where that decision would take me.

And I'm still excited to see where it goes next.