I landed in Denver the night of July 22nd. Susanna Pershern, the SRC’s Audio/Visual Specialist, graciously picked me up after my late flight and offered to put me up for the night. The next morning, Brett, Susanna, and I packed up the Suburban and the trailer with tanks, dive gear,
Hi there! My name is Garrett Fundakowski and I am the 2016 Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society National Park Service Research Intern! This summer I have been given the opportunity to travel the country to live, work, and dive alongside leading underwater archaeologists, photographers, and research scientists in our nation’s National
After a long car ride from Biscayne National Park to Key West on a rainy Saturday in late July, Brett Seymour and I met up with the m/v Fort Jefferson, the Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO) support and research vessel. Aboard the Fort Jefferson was Dave Conlin, who had just
After 2 eventful weeks in the USVI, I found myself back in South Florida at Biscayne National Park. It might sound odd, returning to BISC felt like the closest thing to coming home. Although this has been an experience of a lifetime, as soon as I feel acquainted with a
After hopping across three islands, one ferry and one tiny airplane ride later I made it to the island of St. Croix. Though still part of the US Virgin Island, St. Croix lies some 40 miles south of the cluster of Virgin Islands split between the US and Britain. Compared
After saying my goodbyes to the good folks at BISC, I jumped on a plane and headed into the heart of the Caribbean, the US Virgin Islands. After landing on the island of St. Thomas, I was met byMikey Kent, the Virgin Islands National Park’s Park Diving Officer. We headed
After a week of decompression training and diving, it was time to ditch my bailout bottle and strap on a regular SCUBA unit. As part of deal with the University of Miami, a few lucky graduate students get to spearhead their own research projects while working as biotechs at BISC.
There’s one thing I can tell you for sure, Florida and Oregon are definitely on opposite sides of the continent. After leaving the burgeoning summer in the Pacific Northwest, I arrived in south Florida some 20 hours later. There I met up with Brett Seymour, Deputy Chief of the SRC,
After a quick weekend recovery, my gear still wet from the Channel Islands, I arrived in Medford, Oregon, just as the sun was setting. From there I drove up into the mountains, heading towards Crater Lake National Park. I’m sure the drive is gorgeous, but I didn’t make it to
Once again, dawn found me driving along on the Pacific Coast Highway, the back of my car full of gear. Like many countless mornings before, I was headed to another port, some place on the map held a ship that would take me out on the ocean. About 70 miles
