Jackie Keleher grew up in coastal New Hampshire where she spent summers exploring the rocky shore wondering what was living under the surface of the water. At 18 she earned her Open Water Scuba certification, an experience that changed the trajectory of her life. Jackie served as an undergraduate representative for the Texas A&M Dive Control Board for 2017-2018 and graduated from Texas A&M University at Galveston in 2018 with bachelor’s degrees in marine biology and marine fisheries and a minor in diving technologies and methods. In 2022, she received her master’s degree from Appalachian State University, having studied how tropical marine sponges process fluorescent dissolved organic matter.
Later that year, she began working at an aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, after moving to the Pacific Northwest with her husband, who was stationed at Bremerton Naval Base. Through her experiences in scientific and recreational diving programs and research teams Jackie has seen how barriers can limit who is able to participate in diving and is passionate about increasing accessibility within SCUBA diving. She looks forward to spending the summer as Divers Alert Network (DAN) Diver’s Safety Intern.
