PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer #162656
Divers Alert Network Instructor #8998

          I got into diving in 1996 while living in Oklahoma.  I got all of my training from an incredible instructor who had a small shop on Lake Tenkiller.  I became such a dive enthusiast that I ended up getting my divemaster and helped him with his classes, the shop, and recovering lost items (boats, wallets, and such) from the bottom of the lake.

          My other career (a chemistry nerd) took me away from OK to Blacksburg, VA.  While there I decided to take a two-week hiatus from my ‘real job’ and go to Pro Dive in FL to get my instructor rating (in March of 2000).  I loved being a dive instructor so much that I accepted a position as a visiting professor at the University of the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas). This was really a cover to allow me to work as a dive instructor for several shops.  I logged ~250 dives in one year, trained over 180 divers, and loved every minute of it! 

          After a year in the Virgin Islands, my wife and I decided to move back to the states and start a family. The birth of our two sons, Tristan and Morgan, took me away from diving for a while but now with two future divers running around our home my wife and I have got back into diving.  I am currently at Sweet Briar College working as a chemistry professor and a dive instructor! 

          Check out our scuba program here at Sweet Briar and if you are ever in the area stop by and say hi and come diving with us!   Check the calendar or call me to go on one of my great trips to the Virgin Islands.  For me it's like going home and I'd love to share it with you.

Specialty Instructor Designations

1754 Timberwood Blvd
 Charlottesville, VA  22911
 434-964-9200