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Specialties

A pathway, not a catalog.

None of these came from me sitting down to invent a course. Each began as a question from someone I was teaching — and then a lot of work to make it real. Taken in order they build on one another: control first, then structure, then life, then the water itself, and finally the record that holds all four.

It is eco diving, done as measurement. Not awareness, not a cleanup — a repeatable method, an honest uncertainty, and a rule for telling real change from noise.

The five courses on one reef: what each one measures Diver's Gambit the platform — buoyancy and trim, not a layer Reef Hydrocaster water — temperature, light and clarity Reef Demographer life — what lives there, and in what abundance Reef Chronicler appearance — what the surface looks like Reef Cartographer form — where it is and what shape it has
One reef, five instruments. Each course measures a different thing about the same place, and the four measured layers are reported side by side — never combined into a single score.

Where the pathway stands

It is a work in progress. 3 of the 5 are approved and taught, 1 is submitted to PADI and awaiting approval, and 1 is still being written. This page updates as each one is finished — and nobody can earn the full recognition until they all are. Every course below stands on its own in the meantime.

Diver's Gambit

Buddy teams play timed chess underwater — a novelty wrapper around real training in buoyancy, communication, and air management.

3 open water dives

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Reef Cartographer

Georeferenced reef maps from consumer sonar and photogrammetry, built around no-contact conservation and repeatable change detection.

3 open water dives · Builds on Diver's Gambit

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Reef Demographer

A repeatable, relative-index census of reef life from 360° capture, AI-assisted counting you confirm by hand, and iNaturalist species IDs.

4 open water dives · Requires Reef Cartographer

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Reef Hydrocaster

Submitted to PADI — pending approval

A diver-powered hydrocast: occupy a station on a mapped reef and profile its temperature, light and clarity, with every value carrying a measured uncertainty rather than an assumed one.

6 open water dives · Requires Reef Demographer

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Reef Chronicler

Under development — course materials being written

A dated record of one reef station: permanent photo points, forensic scales in the frame, and form, life, water and appearance filed side by side for whoever returns.

4 open water dives · Requires Reef Hydrocaster

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Master Reef Science Diver

Coming soon — once all 5 are approved

Not a sixth course. The recognition PADI has confirmed for divers who finish the sequence: hold position without touching the reef, map it, count what lives on it, profile the water over it, and leave a record a stranger can re-occupy years later.

Requires all 5 specialties · what it reflects →

Interested in taking any of these courses? Drop me a note.