Jack Hamilton, 21, is from Seattle, Washington, and is a rising senior at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) pursuing a degree in Marine, Estuary, and Freshwater Biology. Jack received his Open Water Diver certification in 2017 in Seattle and his Advanced Open Water and Dry Suit Diver certifications shortly after. During the fall of 2021, his sophomore year, Jack completed his AAUS Scientific Diver training and became an active scientific diver at UNH. Since then, he has earned his Rescue and Master Scuba Diver certifications.
During the summer of 2022, Jack was a scientific diver for two research projects centered at UNH. Working with the Center for Acoustics Research and Education, he assisted with hydrophone deployments and retrievals throughout the Gulf of Maine. Additionally, he conducted habitat surveys of the areas surrounding the deployment sites utilizing transects and photo quadrats. With the Coastal Marine Lab, he assisted in shellfish population survey and collection throughout the Gulf of Maine.
Currently, Jack is a Divemaster-in-training and teaching assistant for the basic scuba course at UNH. He is also working on his senior capstone project focused on describing the call structure of nesting American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus). Jack is incredibly excited and honored to be chosen as the 2023 AAUS Mitchell Scientific Diving Research Intern! Having almost exclusively cold-water diving experience, he is looking forward to the warm water of the Florida Keys and Panama—but more importantly, he is looking forward to assisting in sponge research and restoration as well as furthering his crocodile studies.
