3 ms·

Not sure if you're in the US, but once you get your Open Water certification, you might want to see if there's a university near you that offers the AAUS[1] sci

by qchris 5y ago

Not sure if you're in the US, but once you get your Open Water certification, you might want to see if there's a university near you that offers the AAUS[1] scientific diving course. It can be a path for being able to do underwater research, but without necessarily need a biology or ecology degree. I'm finishing it up right now, and the last time I took a biology course was sophomore year of high school. [1] https://www.aaus.org/ https://www.aaus.org/

owenversteeg 5y ago
Cool, that sounds really interesting! Forgive me if this is easily Googleable (I couldn’t find it) but what do you do once you have your AAUS certification? Do you get a full time/part time job doing scientific dives for a university, or do you do volunteer research? Do you do your own research or help marine biologists do theirs?
- qchris 5y ago
  It really depends! I'm currently on staff at a university, and some of my time moving forward will be allocated towards helping a research project that needs a diver with some instrumentation skills. I do know at least two people who have taken it that aren't officially part of the university, although they did have some ties (alumni or lived locally). In general, you probably won't be doing your own research unless you enroll in a PhD program or somehow enlist some other folks to help you do some citizen science that you'll try to publish. Having the AAUS certification can definitely help in getting you a job at a university, if you're interested in that sort of thing, in which case you'll mostly likely work on whatever projects the group that hires you is doing. A word of caution; academic marine technicians are generally paid very little, especially compared to what a lot of the HN crowd seems used to making. That's the "general answer"; an honest one is that it will really depend on the specifics of the university, their policies/approaches to diving, and your connection to that community in whatever form it takes. Hope this was helpful--my email's in my profile if you have more specific questions!
tvb12 5y ago
If you don't mind me asking, how long (1 semester? days/week?) is the course you're taking? For me, the closest location listed on the site is a university about 3 hours away. There's not a lot of info on their page, but it sounds like something I'd be interested in, if I could actually work around it.
- qchris 5y ago
  If I'm remembering correctly, the requirements are something like 100-150 hours of coursework, plus around a dozen training dives; that gets you your basic certification. Past that point, as you get more practical experience, you're allowed to do deeper/more technical dives--it's not like exactly Open Water, where they functionally say "you're certified, go have fun and we'll never see you again!". My first time through the course got disrupted by COVID, but I think the lion's share of the training happens over the course of 1.5-2 months of part-time.
  - tvb12 5y ago
    Thanks! I did manage to find a little more info from the local university's site. Unfortunately that might not work out as they mention there's a wait-list and I'm not even currently enrolled. I might have to check nearby states. It sounds do-able, though.
    - qchris 5y ago
      Ah, gotcha. It still might be worth adding your name to the waitlist--sometimes spots open up because students have to drop out. I'd honestly guess the biggest issue right now is COVID. Many (most?) universities are still being very strict about social distancing, and the nature of dive training has meant that the total number of trainees has been reduced significantly. Anyway, if I can answer any others questions, feel free to shoot me a message (email's in my profile)!

by qchris 5y ago

owenversteeg 5y ago

Cool, that sounds really interesting! Forgive me if this is easily Googleable (I couldn’t find it) but what do you do once you have your AAUS certification? Do you get a full time/part time job doing scientific dives for a university, or do you do volunteer research? Do you do your own research or help marine biologists do theirs?

qchris 5y ago
It really depends! I'm currently on staff at a university, and some of my time moving forward will be allocated towards helping a research project that needs a diver with some instrumentation skills. I do know at least two people who have taken it that aren't officially part of the university, although they did have some ties (alumni or lived locally). In general, you probably won't be doing your own research unless you enroll in a PhD program or somehow enlist some other folks to help you do some citizen science that you'll try to publish. Having the AAUS certification can definitely help in getting you a job at a university, if you're interested in that sort of thing, in which case you'll mostly likely work on whatever projects the group that hires you is doing. A word of caution; academic marine technicians are generally paid very little, especially compared to what a lot of the HN crowd seems used to making. That's the "general answer"; an honest one is that it will really depend on the specifics of the university, their policies/approaches to diving, and your connection to that community in whatever form it takes. Hope this was helpful--my email's in my profile if you have more specific questions!

tvb12 5y ago

If you don't mind me asking, how long (1 semester? days/week?) is the course you're taking? For me, the closest location listed on the site is a university about 3 hours away. There's not a lot of info on their page, but it sounds like something I'd be interested in, if I could actually work around it.

qchris 5y ago
If I'm remembering correctly, the requirements are something like 100-150 hours of coursework, plus around a dozen training dives; that gets you your basic certification. Past that point, as you get more practical experience, you're allowed to do deeper/more technical dives--it's not like exactly Open Water, where they functionally say "you're certified, go have fun and we'll never see you again!". My first time through the course got disrupted by COVID, but I think the lion's share of the training happens over the course of 1.5-2 months of part-time.
- tvb12 5y ago
  Thanks! I did manage to find a little more info from the local university's site. Unfortunately that might not work out as they mention there's a wait-list and I'm not even currently enrolled. I might have to check nearby states. It sounds do-able, though.
  - qchris 5y ago
    Ah, gotcha. It still might be worth adding your name to the waitlist--sometimes spots open up because students have to drop out. I'd honestly guess the biggest issue right now is COVID. Many (most?) universities are still being very strict about social distancing, and the nature of dive training has meant that the total number of trainees has been reduced significantly. Anyway, if I can answer any others questions, feel free to shoot me a message (email's in my profile)!