Diving Myths & Misconceptions
Panellists:
Jane Bowman [Australia]
OzTek’s Industry Recognition Award Recipient (2017), International Women Divers Hall of Fame [USA] Inductee, PADI Course Director, Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, CDAA Instructor and a Marine Safety Coxswain
A trip to the Maldives in 1984 began a love for SCUBA diving that is still as strong today as then and started what was to become not just a hobby but a career. PADI training has enabled Jane to become one of the few female Course Directors in Australia. She is also an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, CDAA Instructor and a Marine Safety Coxswain. A love of photography and marine biology has enabled her to appreciate not only what Victoria has to offer but better appreciate overseas destinations. Jane has travelled extensively to destinations such as Malaysia, Thailand, Fiji, New Zealand, Mexico, USA, Tonga, Chuuk (Truk Lagoon), Palau, Guam, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, the Coco Islands, the Galapagos, Brunei, Christmas Island and Niue. Technical diving has included trips to Florida, Mexico, Budapest, Sardinia, Malta, Vanuatu and the Nullarbor to dive the caves plus countless journeys to Mt Gambier to dive in Australia’s best cave diving area.
Jane was inducted into the International Women Divers Hall of Fame in the USA in 2010. She was the second Australian (after Valerie Taylor) to be selected for this award based on her extensive training, teaching and technical diving experience, especially for female divers. She was awarded OzTek’s Industry Recognition Award in 2017.
Dawn Kernagis [USA]
Professional Technical Diver, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, University of North Carolina, Member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame and a Fellow of the Explorers Club
Dr. Dawn Kernagis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina. She studies ways to protect the brain and nervous system for individuals in high-stress environments. In 2018, she received the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society’s Young Scientist Award.
In addition to her research, Dawn has been diving since 1993 and has been a team member with numerous underwater exploration projects over the years. In 2016, Dawn was selected as a crew member of the NASA NEEMO XXI undersea mission. Based on her background in underwater exploration and diving medicine research, Dawn was inducted as a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame and as a Fellow of the Explorers Club.
Nathalie Lasselin [Canada]
Underwater Explorer and Underwater Filmmaker
Nathalie Lasselin casts an inquisitive eye on our blue planet and with Pixnat Productions, she documents the captivating explorations of our earth, travelling in more than 60 countries, in all kinds of harsh and remote environments. She was the first to film newly discovered wrecks in the St Lawrence river, the only one attempting the 70kms underwater traverse of the island of Montreal and unknown underwater rivers in China and Mexico.
She was an explorer and a multi-award-winning Underwater Filmmaker. She spends her life with the eyes of her youth, always curious to search, discover and document the world. Ready to push her own limits, she takes her camera to document the earth in a harsh, remote, underwater and underground environment.
She also has produced and directed 12 underwater documentaries that have been critically acclaimed and have received numerous awards at international festivals as well as having been released on DVD and televisions in over 25 countries. She contributed to more than 200 feature films, documentaries and productions as a Cinematographer and underwater safety officer.
Steve Lewis [UK]
International Sheck Exley Award Recipient for Cave Diving Safety; a Staff Instructor and Member of the Training and Advisory Panel for TDI, Director of Diver Training for RAID, Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Professional Technical Diver, Writer, Columnist, Speaker and Coach
Born in the UK but Canadian by choice, Steve Lewis is a diver, writer, columnist, speaker and coach with an over-riding interest in diver safety, and my guest in an upcoming episode of the ADEX Pixel Virtual Expo series of, “Conversations with …” presentations – to be broadcast live via Zoom – on Thursday 3rd September.
An early convert to technical diving as a valid tool for cave and wreck exploration, Steve is a recipient of the prestigious, ‘International Sheck Exley Award’ for Cave Diving Safety; a Staff Instructor and Member of the Training and Advisory Panel for TDI; Director of Diver Training for RAID, and a proud Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
With an impressive number of diver training manuals to his credit, as well as several books (his 2018 book, ‘Death In Number Two Shaft’, provides a philosophical must-read glimpse into the mindset of exploration divers) Steve Lewis is one of modern diving’s most accomplished practitioners; a person whose experiences above and below the surface extend far beyond the ordinary.
Phil Short [UK]
Professional Technical Diver, Dive Industry Consultant, Training Director for IANTD UK
With a background in adventure sports that included dry caving, Phil Short’s fascination with the flooded places within caves was amplified when he attended a talk by Martyn Farr on Cave Diving. Attending an Open Water Diver course run by Steve Axtell – a person who inspired him with the enthusiasm and drive that he has maintained for the past 28-years – Phil Short began diving regularly, first as a Dive Master and then as an Instructor.
Joining the British Cave Diving Group (CDG) Phil Short learned to ‘Cave Underwater’ and to pass through flooded sections to open caves beyond. The two parallel diving paths led Phil Short to Technical Diving under the mentorship of Dave Thompson, Kevin Gurr and Bill Stone and encouraged in him the passion and desire to explore in both open water as well as cave; a drive that led to his involvement in a large expedition to the mountains of Southern Mexico and put him on the path to becoming a Fellow of the Explorers Club and a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).
Paul Toomer [UK]
Professional Technical Diver and President, Dive RAID International
A working instructor trainer and expedition diver with a wealth of diving experience and an inexhaustible arsenal of yarns, my next guest in the ADEX Pixel Virtual Expo series of, “Conversations with …” presentations – broadcast live via Zoom on Thursday 13th August – is, Paul Toomer, the President of, RAID, the newest and most innovative of the international diver training organisations.
Discovering, in technical diving, his true passion, Paul has dived wrecks and caves all around the world, safely planned and executed dives to depths deeper than 100-metres, and been a valued member of numerous wreck and archaeological expeditions.
Moderator:
David Strike [Australia]
ADEX Ambassador For Technical Diving, Pioneer & Fellow of The Explorers Club
With a background in military, commercial, recreational and technical diving, David Strike is a regular speaker and presenter at regional and international diving events. A former Field editor for Asian Diver Magazine who has authored several hundred articles about diving and organised several world-class technical diving events, he is the recipient of the ADEX ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for contributions to Technical Diving, and a Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York.