Elections - Casey Coy
I became captivated by the underwater world as a child watching the undersea world of Jacques Cousteau on TV. For a kid growing up in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains the scenes of explorers searching the depths of the world's oceans fascinated me. I was certified as an SSI JR Open Water diver in 1981 in Key Largo FL. It was a life changing experience for me. As I grew up I invested in dive training opportunities as often as I could. I became a PADI Dive Master in 1989, then a PADI instructor in 1994 while managing a retail scuba center in Boulder Colorado. My first introduction to scientific diving came at the University of Colorado where I completed a two semester project on a bio diversity study on the Laceiba Reef system in Cozumel Mexico for credit. After graduating from the University of Colorado in the spring of 1995 I spent 4.5 years travelling abroad working at dive destination resorts in St. Lucia, the Turks and Caicos(I earned my NAUI and DAN instructor ratings here), the south pacific (live aboard that traveled throughout the South Seas to places such as Vanuatu, Fiji, and French Polynesia). I ended up in Maui Hawaii where I spent two years working at dive resorts and earned my USCG 100 ton masters license. I came to the Florida Aquarium in May of 1999 as the Dive Coordinator in a department of one. Since that time we have grown to a department of 27 and have greatly expanded our dive operations. I am currently the Director of Dive Operations for the Florida Aquarium. Our program consists of over 130 divers and conducts over 8,000 dives annually. Our department is responsible for all exhibit, open water, and dive training programs. We log all forms of occupational dives, commercial, scientific and recreational each year. As a member of our senior administration team I am also involved in bigger picture things such as master planning and our current capital expansion campaign called rising tides.
I became a member of the ADPA in the fall of 1999 and the AAUS symposium in Santa Cruz California. That was the moment I started figuring out the occupational diving was different then recreational diving. Since that time I have served on the board of directors for the AAUS as the standards committee chair. In that position one of my primary responsibilities was to mentor new organizational members on occupational diving standards. Many of those new OM's were zoos and aquariums. As BOD member for AAUS I also had the opportunity to help develop training and evaluation standards for DSO's as well as help develop the new DSO orientation. I have spoken at several AZA conferences on occupational diving standards and guest immersion programs. In addition I have participated in many multi organizational projects such as the USS Monitor expedition (2002 - 2004), Queen of Nassau project; invasive lion fish cruise, Deep occulina coral project, Little Salt Spring exploration, the Tampa Bay Shipwreck survey and many collecting trips. Thorough these experiences I have formed many relationships with folks in other organizations such as the AZA, AAUS, NOAA, and NURC. I feel these relationships can help the ADPA in its future partnerships. I am currently a NAUI Instructor trainer & Technical instructor, PADI MSDT, DAN instructor, MOCC instructor and hold a 100 ton USCG masters license.
This is an exciting time for the ADPA. The growth and value of the organization has increased exponentially in the past few years! Historically, the ADPA has not been a standards setting organization. However in my opinion it's time that we at least get common best practices for our community down on paper and agree to them as a group. This provides the foundation for "standards" in the future. The recent issues of working with the AZA on accreditation questions as well as the ongoing discussion of where we (aquarium divers) fit in the occupational diving model lead me to the conclusion that it's time we take control of our community and define how we do things. This will also give new organizations a template to follow as well as leverage to work with their administrators to get support for their programs. In my observation over the years that is an issue all of us as DSO's at aquariums and zoo's battle. Further, I would like to explore the concept of organizational membership level for the ADPA. There are several large organizations that have multiple DSO's that could get involved in the ADPA if this level were created. However, this level must make sense from a financial standpoint as well as a voting standpoint. Finally, I would like to formalize the DSO mentoring process for new members of the ADPA in the form of a new DSO orientation program each year at the symposium. This will be a great member benefit and can be conducted during the extra day of the symposium each year.
I have been inspired by the ADPA group and it has helped me in my personal development over the years and I look forward to the opportunity to serve the community in return.