A message from Joe Gessert, Harbor School’s Dive Safety Officer and Dive Instructor:

I just spent a week in Maine attending the annual meetings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), the consortium that oversees underwater researchers and their standards and practices. After a steep learning curve and a two-year application process, our request for organizational membership was voted on by their board yesterday, and Harbor School was accepted as the first public high school in the AAUS. We join 138 other member institutions, primarily major research universities, as well as aquariums and consulting firms. A private boarding school in Hawaii is the only other high school member. A full list of organizational members is available at http://data.memberclicks.com/site/aaus/Paid_2011_OMs_August_1.pdf

On a practical level, this membership will help open new research opportunities and partnerships to our dive students (as well as possibilities for our marine science and robotics students), give them a strong addition to their college applications to major universities, give them a head start towards field work in the marine sciences, and hopefully bring in outside researchers for collaborative projects.

Thanks to all Harbor teachers for their flexibility and everyone in the administration, foundation, and oyster restoration project for their support of the program. Special thanks to outside Diving Control Board members Lenny Speregen and Michael Raftery for their expert consultation, without which this membership would not have been possible.

Joe Gessert