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UAF scientific diving program marks 25 years

When Brenda Konar launched the first scientific diving course at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2000, there was some speculation that it could be a short-lived experiment.

After all, how much demand could there really be for a class that combines cold-water diving and research skills?

That gamble has paid off nicely: The scientific diving program hit a milestone this year with its 25th year of instruction. Including this year’s graduates, more than 500 students have been trained as scientific divers through the program.

“When you say, ‘Build it and people will come,’ I don’t always believe that,” said Konar, a professor of marine biology at UAF’s College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. “But in this case, it worked.”

Konar’s first experience with cold-water diving came when she was studying at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A diver on a research project in Canada’s Resolute Bay got sick, and Konar became a last-minute replacement. That trip was followed with research in Antarctica and eventually Alaska.

Her initial motivation for teaching the UAF class was simple. Konar’s research at the time focused on sea otter ecology in the Aleutian Islands, and there was a shortage of trained scientific divers at UAF who could conduct that field research.

“I guess it was a selfish reason at first,” Konar said. “I needed divers.”

Since then, the class has become a spring semester tradition at UAF. Students spend a few months in Fairbanks classrooms and the Patty Center swimming pool. The final is held during spring break at the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration field station near Seldovia operated in partnership with UAF. 

“Snow, ice, sleet, wind — we don’t care,” Konar said. “It’s fun that way.”

Not everyone in the class is a scientist. Firefighters, international students and “people who want to have an exciting spring break” routinely take the course, Konar said.

Reid Brewer was in the first class of students in 2000. He’d just begun his graduate studies, taking the scientific diving class to expand his research capabilities.

“I was interested in doing research on sea stars, and diving made that a little bit more possible,” Brewer said. “Scientific diving is a tool that allowed me to pursue my interests.”

After holding a variety of jobs in marine education throughout Alaska — including the launch of a semester-long research diver program at the University of Alaska Southeast — Brewer is back at the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory as the new director. He credits the scientific diving class that he took 25 years ago for setting that course.

 Brewer isn’t alone. He ticks off names of alumni throughout Alaska in academic and fisheries management and industry jobs who took the scientific diving course.

“A lot of these students go on to do things in Alaska in leadership roles that I’m certain are a direct result of this class,” Brewer said. “It’s pretty amazing how far-reaching it is. I can’t say enough about Brenda’s dedication to divers and that program.”

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Brenda Konar, bhkonar@alaska.edu

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