Dave was introduced to diving in the late 1950's by his father, a botanist, and was first certified in 1971. After moving to Florida in the early 1980's, Dave became an instructor and now holds many of the most prestigious qualifications in diver education. He's a PADI Course Director (instructor trainer), Medic First Aid Instructor Trainer, IANTD Advanced Nitrox Instructor Trainer and DAN Oxygen Provider Instructor Trainer. Dave also teaches numerous specialty courses for instructors and consumer-level divers alike, including: Underwater Photography, Underwater Videography, Coral Reef Ecology, Introductory Nitrox Diving, Cavern Diving and many more. In the past five years Dave has trained over 800 PADI Instructor candidates and over 500 PADI Specialty Instructors, in addition to hundreds of consumer-level students. In addition to overseeing day-to-day operations, Dave also teaches courses in each of the five schools.

Barbara DeClerque: Barbara is the Operations Manager for Dive USA, having recently moved to Palm Beach County from New York. Her duties include running the day to day operations of Dive USA and assisting in the Professional Development course sequence as well as courses within the Schools of Emergency Medical Education, Environmental Education, and Aquatic Imaging.

Barbara's background includes primary and secondary education in England and work in the publishing, health and travel industries. After three years working in the International Division of TIME/LIFE, she worked as Assistant to the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Health Corporation, an innovative automated Multiphasic Health Testing facility. After this she became Assistant to the President of a travel marketing company for whom she later became Director of Operations and Vice President responsible for corporate finances and office administration.

Barbara holds a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from Fordham University and a Master's Degree in chemical engineering from Columbia University. Following graduate school, Barbara Instructed Mathematics at Fordham University, New York University and Marymount Manhattan College.

She became a scuba Instructor in 1984, following an interest that had begun when she was certified as a diver in 1977. For the last 10 years, Barbara has been a lead instructor for Pan Aqua Diving, one of the North East's major diving centers located in New York City, teaching all levels of diving courses. Her responsibilities have also included leading group diving trips and retail sales. As a PADI IDC Staff Instructor and Master Instructor, she has been responsible for coordinating Rescue, Divemaster and Assistant Instructor Courses. She is also a Medic First Aid Instructor, DAN Oxygen Instructor, IANTD Advanced Nitrox Instructor Trainer as well as a PADI Instructor in 9 specialties.

Alex Brylske: As Director of the School of Professional Development, Alex's duties include developing curriculum, overseeing staff training and consulting on program design matters. He also teaches the innovative PRO I course, and is a frequent guest lecturer in other programs. One of the biggest reasons students come to Dive USA for their professional-level training is the opportunity to work with someone with such an unparalleled background.

A renowned leader in the field of diver education, Alex has designed and written many of the world's most popular training programs and textbooks. He's also the Technical Editor of the popular and authoritative Dive Training magazine.

From 1980 to 1988 he served on the Headquarters Staff of PADI International in a wide variety of positions including Regional Training Coordinator, Instructional Design Specialist and Educational Program Development Manager. Among other accomplishments, Alex was the principle designer of the PADI Rescue Diver, Divemaster, and Instructor Development Courses, and was a member of the project team that developed the Recreational Dive Planner. He also served as the curriculum consultant to the PADI International College and as an Instructor Examiner.

As one of the most prolific educational writers in the industry, Alex is often referred to as the "man who wrote the book" on diver education. He is the author of The PADI Divemaster Manual, PADI Instructor Development Course Candidate Workbook, PADI Instructor Orientation Course Candidate Workbook and PADI's Diving Knowledge Workbook. He co-authored the PADI Diver Manual, the PADI Rescue Diver Manual, the PADI Instructor Manual, and the PADI Course Director Manual. He was also a developer and a primary contributor to PADI's Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving, and editor of the industry's most widely read text on legal issues, "The Law and the Diving Professional".

In addition to being one of the most active instructor trainers in the world today (he has taught over 1300 PADI Instructor candidates since 1988 alone), he still finds time to pursue his love of writing. His most recent book "Beating the Bends" is a comprehensive look at decompression theory.

As a member of the prestigious American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Committee on Scuba Diving Instructional Standards and Safety, Alex has direct input into establishing recreational diver training standards in the U.S. He holds a B.A. (with honors) in History and Philosophy, and an M.A. in the field of Instructional Technology/Systems Design.

Dr. Dudley Crosson: As the Director of the School of Emergency Medical Education, Dudley's duties include designing rescue and medically-oriented curriculum, developing accident management protocols and providing in-service training to staff members. He also authored and teaches Dive USA's comprehensive Diving Accident Management Specialist (DAMS) course.

A highly qualified academic and former university professor, Dudley is also an experienced diver and professional paramedic who actually lives what he teaches. His extensive field experience gives his courses a unique practical orientation.

A former EMS Coordinator, he joined the faculty of Miami-Dade Community College in 1980 as an Emergency Medical Services instructor and campus diving officer. There, he taught courses in all aspects of pre-hospital care, diving accident management and rescue diving for Dade County's emergency services personnel. While at Miami-Dade, Dudley also qualified as an instructor with the National Association of Diving Medical Technicians (NADMT).

In 1983 he joined the faculty of the Florida Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) as an associate professor and diving safety officer. While there, he taught courses in diving physiology, mixed gas and saturation diving, chamber operations and diving accident management. He also served as the school's Director of North Sea Certification, helping to qualify divers for perhaps the most demanding underwater environment on earth. He later joined the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution as diving safety officer where he was responsible for their entire diving program. Dudley earned his Ph.D. in Diving Physiology in 1986.

Currently, Dudley owns and operates Delta P, a consulting company specializing in human factors and diving safety. He also serves as a lecturer at the Florida Tech's Space Systems Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center. Since 1987, Dudley has worked as an independent consultant in a wide range of undersea and aerospace projects. His assignments include designing state-of-the-art mixed-gas rebreathers for submarine escape vehicles for the US Navy. He's even consulted in the development of NASA's FLO (First Lunar Outpost) project. Delta P's clients have included various commercial diving companies, private diving-oriented corporations and government agencies.

Holly Martel: As Director of the School of Environmental Education, Holly's duties include developing and teaching courses in tropical ecology, coral reef ecosystems and marine mammal awareness. A marine biologist, she's the diving supervisor and head aquarist at Boston's New England Aquarium.

Holly's interest in the marine environment began in 1984 as a student at Mount Holyoke College when she took a course in Humpback Whale Ecology. This experience also sparked her love of diving, and she was certified soon after. Subsequently she worked as a whale watch naturalist for the New England Aquarium until joining their staff full time in 1989.

In addition to her work at the aquarium, Holly has extensive experience in scientific diving. In 1989, she was a research technician and saturation diver for NOAA and the National Undersea Research Center on St. Croix. There, she was involved in reef fish surveys, specializing in prey/predator relationships. Holly's specialty is Atlantic fishes, and she regularly directs collecting trips throughout the northeast U.S., the Bahamas and Caribbean for the New England Aquarium.

Holly's position with the aquarium puts her in the vanguard of environmental education. In addition to her duties supervising the aquarium's staff of more than a dozen paid and volunteer divers, she conducts lectures and educational programs on marine science, both on-site and at local schools, colleges and diver seminars. Her love of cetaceans also has her continuing to serve as the naturalist during whale watch trips sponsored by the aquarium.

In 1991, Holly became a PADI Instructor, and subsequently a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, who is very active in the Massachusetts diving community. She's a member of the Boston SeaRovers, and has participated in numerous diving conferences, both as an organizer and speaker.

Austin Quick: Austin commutes to us from upstate Pennsylvania eachPro I course. The combination of Alex Brylske and Austin Quick create an unparalleled team of experienced Lead Instructor-Educators for candidates. When not involved in the classroom, Austin will lead pool sessions and open water dive critiques.

Austin is a PADI Course Director with an impressive list of educational credentials including a Doctorate in Education from LeHigh University and a Professorship in Industrial Technology (graphic arts and photography) at Millersville University in Pennsylvania.

Originally certified as a NAUI diver, Austin switched to PADI and became an Open Water Scuba Instructor in 1989, qualifying12 teaching specialties by 1991. From 1989 to 1993 he was Senior Instructor for a local Dive Shop in Richland, PA. and in 1993, became Training Director for the Lancaster Scuba Center. Austin will continue in this teaching position when not "vacationing" with us here in Florida.

Austin's teaching credentials as an Instructor-Trainer are equally impressive. In addition to his Course Director rating, he has qualified as a DAN O2 Administration Instructor-Trainer, Medic First Aid Instructor-Trainer and PADI Specialty Instructor-Trainer for 13 standard courses. Austin's continuing passion is photography, and he has continued his studies with Marty Snyderman, Cathy Church, our own Steve Fish, and has taken seminars from Agfa Gaevert and Nikon.