Steve Arnam began his marine education with a love of the ocean and made marine science a goal. His prize is a Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology. In 1983 he became a scuba instructor, which enabled him to teach his passion by taking dive groups on eco-dive trips worldwide. He currently teaches science to K-12 students and coaches swimming. He enjoys enhancing marine and aquatic awareness. "After all, we are all students of the water planet."

Larry Boucha’s fascination with the underwater world began as a young boy when he put on a mask and looked at the bottom of a wading pool in his back yard. In high school a gym teacher brought a scuba tank and double hose regulator to the pool. The rest is diving history.

In 1975 he started working at Scuba Systems dive center as the repair technician and sales staff. He became a PADI instructor in 1979 and has been teaching diving ever since.

Larry is a Master Repair Technician  The technically oriented "Doctor Scuba" has long been involved in the design, modification, and repair of diving and photographic equipment. He has worked continually for 35 years in the diving industry.

Leading dive trips around have filled 3 passports and taken him to every continent in the world except Antarctica. He loves to educate people about the marine environment by producing and showing underwater videos from around the world. He is an accomplished Technical Diver with dives ranging from filming the yacht "Gunilda" at 275 feet in frigid Lake Superior to having spent over 3 hours on a single dive using a closed circuit rebreather to film the interaction of marine life. Larry has been the audiovisual director for Our World-Underwater for several years and takes great pride in being the one who pushes the buttons to present the amazing Friday and Saturday night film festivals.

Larry has earned numerous awards for phenomenal underwater videography including an . has Emmy Award for his work on "A Fish Eye View" for Fox Thing in the Morning.  Larry is also on the board of directors of "The Aquatic Education Group", a Not-For-Profit Organization that helps to fund teaching people (and especially children) about our oceans and all that live in them.  Larry and Nancy are the Photo Judges for the Ultimate Diver Challenge.

Nancy Boucha was inspired by the underwater world on a family trip to the Florida Springs in 1966 and she hasn't stopped since! She became certified as a PADI Scuba Diver in 1976. She became a PADI Instructor in 1980 under the guidance of Ralph Erickson, one of the founders of PADI.

As owners of Scuba Systems, Nancy and her husband Larry love to lead dive trips around the world helping people become better divers and photographers.  She believes that the more you know, the more you see. And the more you see, the more fun you have. She has dived in more than 30 countries.
She is an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer.

Her award winning photographs and articles have appeared in books, magazines, newspapers, ads and film festivals. She has won many international awards for her photography including National Geographic Adventure Magazine. She is a staff writer for Midwest Dive News. Nancy's passion is sharing with others the beauty and joy of the aquatic realm and the need to protect it. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of her images photos, is donated to help save the underwater world.

She loves teaching scuba diving to children, families and handicapped people. Her underwater naturalist programs are popular with many service groups. She has been awarded the prestigious Platinum Pro 5000 Award.  Nancy and Larry are the Photo Judges for the Ultimate Diver Challenge.

Although Nancy is a frequent visitor to the Caribbean and Pacific, she also indulges her passion for diving with local shipwreck diving in the challenging waters of the Great Lakes, both recreationally and well as tech diving.

Filmmaker, SCUBA instructor, boat captain, writer and motivational speaker, Annie Crawley founded her own production company to create entertaining and educational multi-media programs about our Ocean.  She has explored and traveled with a camera in hand from Indonesia to Galapagos, Belize to Papua New Guinea. Annie is changing the way a new generation views our Ocean and includes empowerment and leadership skills into every presentation! Annie will be speaking at many local schools around Our World Underwater, contact her for information, Annie@DiveIntoYourImagination.com  Dive Into Your Imagination, creates programs for all ages including an award winning series of illustrated books and dvds.  In addition Annie launched the Live Your Dreams limited edition poster and print series.  Her work has been published and broadcast worldwide with clients including National Geographic, the BBC, NOAA, Monterey Bay Aquarium plus more.  Annie is passionate about everything she does and in her words, “I want people to fall in love with our Ocean because we protect what we love.”  Breathing underwater changed Annie’s life.  Originally from Chicago, she is returning to help Our World Underwater celebrate it’s 40^th year.  In August 2009 Annie joined Project Kaisei to document a scientific expedition to the North Pacific Gyre to help find a solution to what is becoming a plastic ocean.  You can check out her work and follow the expedition at:  www.DiveIntoYourImagination.com You can follow Annie Crawley and Dive Into Your Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube.com and Flickr!

Jack and Sue Drafahl are a husband and wife team of professional photojournalists, lecturers and multimedia producers. For over thirty years their articles have appeared in Sport Diver, Skin Diver, Dive Training, Diver, Petersen's Photographic, and Rangefinder Magazines. They are the founders of the Oregon Coast Digital Center, an enhanced learning facility designed to help others learn Photoshop skills. They have been actively involved in the digital transition since the early 80's and are software and hardw are Beta testers for companies like Adobe, Applied Science Fiction, Kodak, Corel and Ulead Systems. These Platinum Pro 5000 divers were awarded Divers of the Year from Beneath the Sea in 1996 and Sue is an inaugural member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame. They are authors of several books including: Adobe Photoshop for Underwater Photographers, Master Guide for Digital Underwater Photography and Digital Imaging for the Underwater Photographer. Recently they launched a new series of Photoshop DVD tutorials.

www.jackandsuedrafahl.com

Bob Gadbois A Chicago native, a long-time photographer/editor for CBS television and owner of his own production company, Bob has had a special love for diving and documenting the Great Lakes for 28 years. Assisted by his wife Claire, he has produced many documentaries telling the stories of the treasures of the lakes. Previous OWU productions have included the Seabird, the Verano, Ancient Forests and the Mystery Object. When not presenting, Bob can be seen helping with OW-U's audio/visual department.

Lynn Funkhouser was inducted into the inaugural Women Divers Hall of Fame (WDHOF). She is an internationally published photographer, author, lecturer, environmentalist, adventuress, and leader in dive travel. She specializes in underwater, nature, travel, and environmental images.

In 2008, Lynn was inducted into the Society of Women Geographers. SWG members are women who love adventure and have added to the world’s knowledge. Members include Amelia Earhart, Eugenie Clark, Sylvia Earle, Jane Goodall, Margaret Mead, and Pearl Buck.

As an environmentalist, Lynn is committed to making a difference on this planet through her images and lectures.

Michel Gilbert & Danielle Alary
Award-winning, lecturers, photography and multimedia producers, Michel and Danielle have been “at sea” for over 25 years.  Authors of more than 525 articles related to diving, travel and sailing, they are underwater photography columnists for Diver and En Profondeur (Into the Depths) magazines. Their work is sold worldwide.

Recipients of the Canadian Diving Achievement Award in 1991 and the Diver of the Year Award for the Arts at Beneath the Sea in New-York, in 1995, in 1997, they won the coveted Silver Diver Award at the Antibes World Festival of Underwater Images. Their multimedia production about the seals of the Gulf of St-Lawrence won a Grand Prize from the Ministry of Tourism of Québec.

They are panoramic multimedia specialists.

Danielle is a member of the Women Divers Hall Of Fame.

Danielle and Michel were honored during the 37th edition of Our World Underwater in Chicago in 2007, in recognition for their contribution to the diving community and to the show over the years.

Caleb Hayes grew up in Papua New Guinea and moved to St. Louis, MO in 1991, where he discovered winter and promptly moved to Tampa, Florida. Caleb has been diving for 20 years and is a Padi MSDT with over 2,000 logged dives. Caleb spent 12 years in financial sales and sales training in a management position with one of the largest banks in the world, but left in 2007 to dedicate more time to diving. In mid-2009, Caleb joined Red Mangrove Galapagos Lodges to develop their diving program and design the new dive center, which will be the largest in Galapagos Islands and one of the largest in South America when it is completed in late 2010.

The combination of Deanna’s zeal for marine conservation and her background as a trial attorney has shaped her major goals:

~ to have people learn about the ocean and its inhabitants;

~ through this newfound knowledge people will act to protect the oceans and become ocean advocates.

To accomplish these goals Deanna created Discover the Depths.  Deanna brings fun, interactive, educational presentations to people of all ages to learn about marine animals and ecosystems.

Deanna is a volunteer interpreter and diver at John G. Shedd Aquarium.  She enhances aquarium guests’ experience by sharing interesting information about the Shedd’s collections. 

Deanna lives in Chicago with her dive buddy, husband Dave, and their two children, whom she hopes will be snorkeling and diving soon.

Cris Kohl and Joan Forsberg, a Chicago husband-and-wife team, love to explore shipwrecks, particularly those in the Great Lakes. Joan, who has a degree in History and has been the Chairman of its "Shipwrecks and our Maritime Heritage" Room at Chicago’s "Our World – Underwater" Show since 1996, is the author of the scuba celebrity "cook-and-tell" book, "Diver’s Guide to the Kitchen," and articles in "Immersed" and "Wreck Diving" (for which she now works as Copy Editor) magazines. Cris, a prize-winning underwater photographer with a Master’s Degree in History, is Past President of the Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago and has written ten books about Great Lakes shipwrecks. He has appeared on numerous television programs, including the History Channel.

Francey Marzicola is a strategic marketer with two decades of marketing, branding, promotions, public relations, publicity, event planning and project management experience.

Francey has leveraged her international marketing expertise to chart brainstorming and positioning strategies, planning and executing event, as well as coaching executives in goal setting and delivering key messages.

Full Spectrum Marketing (FSM) has a proven track record and its expertise translates across multiple industries including: aerospace, retail, hospitality, professional services, politics, real estate development, financial services, and nonprofit.

Using her specialized knowledge as a certified PADI diver, Francey is currently working with Body Glove, PADI, Bonnier Publishing and US Divers to re-brand the scuba diving industry. She is leading the charge by creating the "Drop Zone: Dive-In," program. Drop Zone's core mission is to inspire the next generation of divers.

FSM invented the word, "genY-ify" or take action to "young up" a brand by appearing to a younger audience. It does this by generational profiling, understanding how to attract the next generation and getting companies to embrace modern technology. FSM specializes in the use of New and Social Media to avoid the pitfall of generation gaps in developing marketing programs.

Francey's reputation for delivering results is rooted in skilled deployment of astute marketing tactics coupled with a core business sense, high energy and drive. The ability to build strong relationships and amass and lead creative teams generates a dynamic force fueling her talent to influence and accelerate business success for Full Spectrum Marketing Clients.

She serves on the Board of Directors for the Reef Check Foundation and Leadership Manhattan Beach and is available for public speaking engagements.

Nancy McGee has been a scuba diver and underwater photographer for thirty years. Twenty years ago Nancy created Island Time Scuba, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In 2000 she partnered with Stan Waterman to promote and manage Stan and Stan Waterman Productions. She has restored, digitized, and resurrected his vintage films, and provided Stan’s narration to preserve some of the history of diving. She and Stan have led groups to the world’s most exotic dive locations.

Nancy, a PADI master instructor with thirty years of experience, has trained nearly 1000 divers and has introduced many of them to other areas of the world. Nancy tirelessly promotes the dive industry, the ecology of the sea, and the Shark Research Institute. She accomplishes this by speaking, producing and showing films to schools, clubs, and community service groups, and as a featured speaker and emcee for national and international dive shows and film festivals.

Dr. Pete Millar has written a number of books, one of which is a history of the famous dive watch: 'DOXA SUB - Forty Years 1967 - 2007'. He has just finished the book ‘Diving With Legends’ but admits that he couldn't even be described as a "Legend in his own Lunchtime" when compared to the likes of Stan Waterman, Howard Hall, John Chatterton, Richie Kohler, Zale Parry and the other contributors to the book. His hobby is collecting vintage dive watches and he owns one of the first Helium Release Valve watches made available to the diving public, of which only 5 are known to exist.

Producer Rick Morris has been an active diver for more than 40 years, a scuba instructor for nearly 20 and worked in the television and film industry for over 30 years…  He began to produce and shoot pro-environment documentaries based on the aquatic environment 10 years ago and has worked on productions for nearly every network and a host of non-profit organizations like, National Geographic, PBS, ABC, NBC, CBS, The New England Aquarium, Oceana, the Conservation Law Foundation, The international Fund For Animal Welfare and many, many more…  He is currently working on a three part series on the History of the worlds Oceans for National Geographic and produced by Gruppe 5 Film Production in Bohn Germany as well as his regular position with the Census of Marine Life…

Michael Salvarezza has been diving the waters of Long Island and the world since 1978 and has spent hundreds of hours underwater accumulating a large and varied library of photographic images. With Christopher Weaver, he has presented his work in hundreds of multi-media slide presentations and have appeared at Beneath the Sea and the Boston Sea Rovers Underwater Clinic. Their work has been published in various magazines such as: Skin Diver, Sport Diver, Asian Diver, Diver, Advanced Diver Magazine, Sport Diving Magazine, Dive Journal, World War II, Immersed and Lighthouse Digest.

Photographer Wes Skiles began to learn his craft in the most demanding environment on Earth: underwater caves.

As a teenager, camera in hand, he explored Florida's underwater labyrinths to capture images of this unphotographed realm. He developed and refined the technique he became most known for: using multiple slaved strobes to dramatically illuminate and photograph this never-before-seen environment.

Later, as explorations led Skiles to remote locations around the world, he would strive to employ the latest technology, enhancing his ability to explore the environment and return with stunning images. He's participated in caving and cave-diving expeditions in Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Australia.

As an expedition cameraman, Skiles specializes in capturing images of people and wildlife on the edge of extreme frontiers. His visual imagery provides the viewer with an intimate understanding and unique perspective of his subjects.

Skiles works on assignment as a freelance photographer for National Geographic magazine. His work has also been featured in Outside and numerous diving publications. Skiles is equally skilled in the art of telling stories though moving pictures. He has produced, directed, and filmed over a hundred television films, many of which have won international awards and acclaim.

For 35 years Jim & Pat Stayer have been diving in the Great Lakes and around the world.  Pat is a member of the Women’s Diving Hall of Fame and Jim has been a U.S.C.G Licensed Captain for 24 years.  They have co-authored three books and produced 20 DVDs.  The Stayers have discovered eight shipwrecks and documented numerous others.  They have worked as cameramen for the History Channel and their footage has appeared several major commercial networks.  Jim and Pat have been popular presenters at dive shows across the country.   

Christopher Weaver has been diving the waters of Long Island and the world since 1978 and has spent hundreds of hours underwater accumulating a large and varied library of photographic images. With Michael Salvarezza, he has presented his work in hundreds of multi-media slide presentations and have appeared at Beneath the Sea and the Boston Sea Rovers Underwater Clinic. Their work has been published in various magazines such as: Skin Diver, Sport Diver, Asian Diver, Diver, Advanced Diver Magazine, Sport Diving Magazine, Dive Journal, World War II, Immersed and Lighthouse Digest.

Richard has over 30 years of dive travel experience. He was certified as an  Open Water Scuba Instructor when he was 20 and has logged more than 5000 dives in over 50 destinations around the world. These destinations include the Maldives, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Cocos Island, Galapagos, Indonesia, Philippines, Sipadan/Mabul, Palau, Japan, Colombia, Cozumel, Bonaire, and Belize.Richard is an expert on marketing and selling adventure trips to remote dive and snorkel locations.

Rich is an avid water sports fan and fitness/wellness enthusiast. He lives in San Diego, California.  contact him at richtravels@cox.net