Katie Simpson

Katie Simpson spent a month living on a boat in the Caribbean.  For four weeks, Katie learned how to sail and maintain the catamaran on which she lived.  She took various SCUBA lessons, and was enrolled in the Marine Ecology courses for credit.  Traveling to St. Lucia, Martinique, St. Vincent, and Bequia, Katie was able to immerse herself in different cultures and found that they were very similar in many ways.  As part of her service to the environment, she spent time volunteering at the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary on the island of Bequia.  She also performed various underwater diversity surveys to aid the local marine reserves in keeping accurate logs of the wildlife in the area.  These services allowed her not only to get to know the locals on a personal level, but they also helped explore her own personal career goals.  With the help of local dive instructors, Katie was able to obtain seven SCUBA certifications:  open water diver, advanced open water diver, ship wreck diver, night diver, drift diver, underwater photography, and REEF Fish ID.