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Utility Navigation

Diving Program

The NOAA Diving Program (NDP) establishes policies and prepares personnel to safely support underwater missions.

Unit Diving Supervisors (UDS)

NOAA Divers wearing dry suits after a working dive in Alaska
Photo:
Brigitte Malessa/NOAA
Click for download, licensing and other information i

NOAA Unit Diving Supervisor Bob Stone (second from left) is flanked by NOAA Divers Tommy Abbas, Brad Weinlaeder and Zach Hileman after completing a working dive in Little Port Arthur, Alaska. 

The Unit Diving Supervisor has a crucial role within the NOAA Diving Program.

Unit Diving Supervisors (UDSs) must make decisions about all diving related activities at their unit: when dives occur, how the dives are executed, and who goes in the water. UDSs are also responsible for keeping their divers informed of new policies and procedures as well as elevating concerns and communicating ideas from their unit to the Line / Staff Office Diving Officers (LODOs/SODOs) and the NOAA Diving Control and Safety Board (NDCSB).

For information on position requirements and responsibilities, UDSs should consult the UDS Manual. This guide will probably undergo some changes after the NOAA Diving Control and Safety Board (NDCSB) meets at the end of February 2015, so please check back again for updates. 

Unit Diving Supervisors are encouraged to contact one another for assistance and support.

Field Support

Personnel from the NOAA Diving Program provide field support to units upon request.

The NOAA Diving Program can coordinate with the NOAA Diving Center (NDC) staff and other units and divers to assist NOAA field units to augment diving teams, provide technical assistance or loan equipment. In order to coordinate resources for all the units seeking assistance, requests should be sent to the NOAA Diving Program well in advance of the expected need. Requests can be submitted via e-mail to: ndc.support@noaa.gov.

Types of assistance and/or support that can be requested from the NOAA Diving Program include:

  • Diving supervision and/or planning
  • Additional diving personnel
  • Technical diving or complex operations
  • Divers with specials skills (e.g., hydraulic or pneumatic drilling skills)
  • Medical personnel or advice
  • Safety concerns
  • Additional equipment
  • Equipment maintenance (e.g., full face masks)
  • Compressed air testing kits
  • Chamber operations
  • Hyperlite portable hyperbaric chambers

Workshops

The NOAA Diving Program hosts biannual workshops for all UDSs. These meetings provide training, policy updates, a chance to connect with other UDSs, and a forum to discuss the present and future directions of the NOAA Diving Program.

Divemaster Kits

The following is a list of suggested items that may be included in Divemaster Kits: (Divers may also complement these with items that are useful to the type of diving they do.)

  • O-rings
  • Extra fin straps and mask straps
  • Mouth pieces
  • Zip ties
  • Port plugs (high pressure and low pressure)
  • Scuba tools (things like allen wrenches for the port plugs, small adjustable wrenches to tighten hoses, screwdriver set, side cutters for zip ties, etc…)
  • Snorkel keepers
  • HP spool (a cylindrical object that creates a seal between the HP gauge and the HP hose that allows the gauge to swivel around without leaking) 

NOAA Diver assembling an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) underwater
Photo:
Shay Viehman/NOAA
Click for download, licensing and other information i

NOAA Diver and Unit Diving Supervisor Brian Degan attaches an acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) arm to a tripod mount for an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) near Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. The data collected will be used to fine tune models that forecast how long corals take to recover from injuries caused by large scale disturbances. 

Unit Diving Supervisors and Diving Units

Unit Diving Supervisors are listed in alphabetical order by last name. 

Mark Bailey (206-526-6910), Seattle, WA

  • NOS / Center for Operational Oceanographic Products (CO-OPS) / Pacific Region

Raymond C. Boland (808-725-5716), Honolulu, HI

  • NMFS / Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center
    • Coral Reef Ecosystem Program
    • Ecosystem and Oceanography Division
    • Fisheries Biology and Stock Assessment Branch
  • NMFS / Pacific Island Region / Habitat Conservation Division

Julie Bursek (805-893-6422), Santa Barbara, CA

  • NOS / Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

Doug Costa (781-546-6005), Scituate, MA

  • NOS / Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

Andrew David (850-234-6541 x208), Panama City, FL

  • NMFS / Southeast Fisheries Science Center / Panama City Lab

Brian Degan (252-728-8704), Beaufort, NC

  • NOS / NCCOS / Beaufort Laboratory
  • NMFS / Southeast Fisheries Science Center / Beaufort Lab

Gregg R. Gitschlag (409-766-3513), Galveston, TX

  • NMFS / Southeast Fisheries Science Center / Galveston Lab

Laura Jay Grove (305-361-4479), Miami, FL

  • NMFS / Southeast Science Fisheries Center / Miami Lab
  • NMFS / Southeast Region / Habitat Conservation Division / West Palm Beach, FL

  • OAR/ Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory / Miami, FL

Bret Hataway (228-549-1765), Pascagoula, MS

  • NMFS / Southeast Fisheries Science Center / Pascagoula Lab

Zachary Hileman (206-526-6936), Seattle, WA

  • OMAO / NOAA Diving Center

Joe Hoyt (757-591-7336), Newport News, VA

  • NOS
    • Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
    • Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

LT Kelsey Jeffers (301-683-3227), Silver Spring, MD

 LTJG John Katchenago (305-434-9376), Key Largo, FL

  • NOS / Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

LCDR Faith Knighton (206-526-6460), Seattle, WA

  • NCEI / Center for Coasts, Oceans, and Geophysics
  • NMFS / Alaska Fisheries Science Center / National Marine Mammal Laboratory
  • NOS / Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
  • NOS / Office of Response and Restoration / Environmental Restoration
  • OAR / Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)
  • OMAO / Small Boat Program
  • OMAO / Marine Operations Center - Atlantic
    • MOC-A, Norfolk, VA
    • NOAA Ship Ferdinand R. Hassler
    • NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter
    • NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow
    • NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
    • NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
    • NOAA Ship Oregon II
    • NOAA Ship Pisces
    • NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown

Jason Leonard (808-725-5801), Honolulu, HI

  • NOS / Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

William Chris Long (907-481-1715), Kodiak, AK

  • NMFS / Alaska Fisheries Science Center 
    • Kodiak Lab
    • Resource Assessment, Conservation, and Engineering Division

Steve Lonhart (831-420-3661), Santa Cruz, CA

  • NOS
    • Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
    • Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
    • Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
    • National Marine Sanctuaries / West Coast Region
  • NMFS / Southwest Fisheries Science Center / Santa Cruz Lab

Patrick Malecha (907-789-6415), Juneau, AK

  • NMFS
    • Alaska Fisheries Science Center / Auke Bay Lab
    • Alaska Regional Office

Andrew Mason (240-533-0357), Silver spring, MD

  • NOS / NCCOS / Program Office and Headquarters

Scott Mau (858-546-5645), La Jolla, CA

  • NMFS / Southwest Fisheries Science Center / La Jolla Lab

Sean Meehan (727-824-5330), St. Petersburg, FL

  • NMFS / Southeast Region
  • NOS / Coral Reef Conservation Program

Chris Metzger (757-842-4427), Chesapeake, VA

  • NOS / Center for Operational Oceanographic Products (CO-OPS) / Atlantic Region

Marissa Nuttall (409-621-5151), Galveston, TX

  • NOS / Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

LCDR Carl Rhodes (541-867-8703), Newport, OR

  • OMAO / Marine Operations Center - Pacific
    • MOC-P, Newport, OR
    • NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada
    • NOAA Ship Fairweather
    • NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
    • NOAA Ship Rainier

Kimberly Roberson (912-598-2382), Savannah, GA

  • NOS / Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

Victor Simon (206-860-3368), Seattle, WA

  • NMFS / Northwest Fisheries Science Center / Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division

Barry Smith (203-882-6589), Milford, CT

  • NMFS / Northeast Fisheries Science Center
    • Milford Lab
    • Narrangasett Lab
    • Research Vessel Gloria Michelle
  • OAR / Ocean Exploration and Research 
    • OMAO / NOAA Corps Officer Training Center

Mitchell Tartt (301-713-7284), Silver Spring, MD

  • NOS
    • Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
    • Office of the Assistant Administrator
    • Silver Spring Programs
  • NMFS / Office of Law Enforcement

 Steve Thomas (707-575-6079), Santa Rosa, CA

  •  NMFS / Southwest Region / Santa Rosa, CA

 Nick Tolimieri (206-302-2444), Seattle, WA

  • NMFS / Northwest Fisheries Science Center / Montlake

Hans Van Tilburg (808-725-5907), Honolulu, HI

  •  NOS
    • Pacific Island Region
    • National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa
    • Hawaiian Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary

David Witting (562-980-3235), Long Beach, CA

  •  NMFS / Southwest Region / Long Beach, CA

Frank Wood (206-604-7122), San Diego, CA

  •  OMAO / Marine Operations Center - Pacific Islands
    • NOAA Ship Hi'ialakai
    • NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette
  • OMAO / Marine Operations Center - Pacific
    • NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker

 

You are here: https://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/diving-program/diving/unit-diving-supervisor-uds
Reviewed: August 21, 2018. Contact us with page issues.

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