Another Diva Diary

[Dive Bunnie]

Another diva diary for you: Sian Lewis goes green and helps the Turtles with GVI in the Seychelles.

Feel free to add your thoughts here.

[Diveannette]

Nice one. Is good to see it from an unbiased point of view.

[Chloe]

WOAW... that is amazing... it's a route that I'm considering of taking. I'm guessing they're all volunteer based right? Do you know if any of these NGOs or Conservation association are looking at 'employing' divers to get data or help in any way?
Cheers
Chloe

[Dive Bunnie]

Hey Chloe,

You are right in thinking that most of these companies rely on volunteers to man their field projects. However they do need qualified people to run the projects themselves. Often the route into working for one of these projects is via the route of keen volunteer who also happens to be qualified enough to join the team.

The kind of qualifications looked for are degrees in marine biology to maybe oversee the collating of information, diving instructor to train up future volunteers, engineers, who can service the kit and repair the boat engine (when I was on my trip, this was all done by the diving instructor, so multiple skills are always appreciated).

They will often want you to be experienced in this kind of work, hence the route via volunteer. Life in the field can be hard work, food basic, and things don't always work according to plan, so experiencing this hands on would arm you with the skills to be flexible and work with whatever situation occurs.

Here is a link to more information on the subject:

www.divebunnie.com/volunteer.asp

Feel free to drop me a line with any questions. I volunteered with Blue Ventures when I was a mere Advanced Open Water Diver and will be honest, it was life-changing. I did my rescue diver course whilst there, and within a couple of days of arriving home had signed up for my Divemaster course here in Sharm, and haven't looked back since.

Good luck.