Graham was born in Jackson Hole, WY but moved to California as a child. He soon developed an insatiable love for the ocean and quickly realized his life was intertwined with the sea. In 1995, Graham moved to Boulder to attend the University of Colorado and study marketing and entrepreneurship. His love for traveling and the ocean have led him to dive destinations all over the world. Graham wanted to find a way to continue exploring while also protecting the environment he loves. Over the course of the next 10 years, he’s worked diligently to create a community of ocean enthusiasts who are passionate about experiencing and preserving our marine environments.

Amy has been swimming and snorkeling for as long as she can remember. Her first experience was snorkeling with her family at Playa de los Gatos in Mexico when she was 2. From that point on she was hooked. Amy has been fortunate to have spent most of her life traveling around the world with her family. She earned her Open Water certification in 1991 and is now an SSI Master Instructor. Amy is the Director of Retail & Travel Operations and a videographer at Ocean First.  Her favorite part about diving is coming across the unexpected while diving, observing the behaviors of marine creatures, and exploring new countries. Amy has been with the team since March of 2000.

Growing up on a ranch in the middle of Montana doesn’t afford many opportunities to spend time in the water, but as a teenager Mark would get out to Flathead Lake in northern Montana. In 1985, Mark moved to Boulder and worked as the IT Director for the Geological Society of America.  Later that year, while at a GSA meeting, a group of managers decided they would go diving in the Caribbean.  Unable to resist the lure of the tropics, Mark followed suit and never looked back.  Since then, he has been diving in the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, Roatan, Mexico and all around the Caribbean. In 2007, Mark became an instructor for Ocean First and is now the Director of Service & Facilities and Master Service Technician.

Lisa grew up near Washington, D.C. and loved spending a portion of her summers exploring the Outer Banks. She learned to kayak and snorkel on vacations in Captiva, FL. From a young age, she was enamored with and respectful of Mother Ocean and all sea life. She moved to Colorado in 2003, and through a partnership with the engineering firm she worked for and Ocean First, she was able to realize a dream come true when she earned her Open Water in 2012 at Ocean First! Her decades-long career in customer care, sales, project management and team leadership led to joining the OF Community in early 2022 to support our Founder and Chief Visionary Officer. Since joining the team, she has established herself as a team leader and team player as she collaborates on initiatives with all Ocean First entities. In her free time, Lisa loves spending time with her blended family of 7 *pups make 9. She enjoys hiking, pilates, travel, continuing her dive education, and is loving learning how to surf.

Kathy has always loved and been intrigued by the ocean, all from the first time she was "bitten" by a starfish at the age of 6. She has since learned that starfish can not bite people. Kathy loves learning about the behavior of creatures in the ocean and enjoys sharing that knowledge while teaching or leading trips.  Kathy joined the retail team in January of 1998 and became an instructor in 1999 and began leading store trips.  During the summer of 2024 she transitioned from her role as Retail Manager & Buyer to Travel Coordinator where she is excited to continue to expand her knowledge while continuing to support other areas of the business.  She still enjoys working with the local Public Safety Dive teams to secure the gear they need to keep us all safe!

Joel has two great loves in life: the ocean and camps. Over 45,000 children have benefited from his programs. Joel began SCUBA diving in 1999 and moved to Colorado in 2005. In addition to creating camp programs at Ocean First, he owns and operates Wild Child Day Camp in Westminster. “I believe every child deserves camp—a special place where they can challenge themselves, make new friends, and be exactly who they want to be.” Joel loves sharks, climbing mountains, comic books, and creating zombie apocalypse survival plans.

Mike was born and raised in Denver. Growing up in landlocked Colorado, he developed a deep fascination with the ocean from an early age that grew with his first scuba diving experience in the crystal-clear waters of the Bahamas. Mike studied undergrad at CU Boulder and earned an MBA from CU Denver, solidifying his business acumen while staying connected to his environmental interests. Before joining Ocean First, Mike worked for 10 years in travel and tourism, including working as the Director of International Marketing & PR for the Colorado Tourism Office. Mike finds joy and fulfillment in family life. He is happily married and the proud father of two great boys and a wonder dog named Shadow. Whether exploring the depths of the ocean or navigating the challenges of business, Mike Driver brings his dedication, enthusiasm, and love for nature into everything he does.

As a Colorado native, Kelly discovered scuba diving when she was certified in high school. She tried a wide variety of jobs and even went to Colorado State University to earn a degree in Biomedical Sciences, but eventually decided to pursue a career in scuba diving. Diving has taken her all over the Caribbean, Bahamas, Asia, Fiji, and then some! After a few adventurous years working as a dive instructor in Curacao, Kelly came back home to Colorado to continue her scuba diving career as a dive instructor and Assistant Training Director for Ocean First.  Kelly helps out with marketing, retail, and tends to many of the office plants. When she's not blowing bubbles, you can find Kelly gardening, hanging out with her pets (including chickens), and a hive of honey bees!

Juliette Chernikova was born in New Jersey, spent part of her childhood in Odessa, Ukraine, and graduated high school in the Dominican Republic. She grew up in a family of divers and explorers. Juliette’s connection to the ocean has always run deep, but it was in the Dominican Republic where that love truly came to life. Whether she’s free diving or doing paddleboard yoga, she’s happiest in or near the water. After graduating from CU Boulder, she joined the Ocean First team to help amplify the voices protecting our oceans and support education that inspires the next generation of ocean advocates.

Rocket is the heart and soul of our team, spreading joy and positivity with every wag of his tail. Whether he's boosting team morale or providing comfort and encouragement to our young swimmers, Rocket’s mission is to make every day a little brighter.

Be sure to give him a pat when you see him around—he’s always ready to share some love and good vibes! 

Born and raised in Miami, Lily has always been drawn to the ocean, spending weekends at the beach or on a boat. A lifelong runner, she took up swimming and biking in 2021, leading her to CU Boulder, where she competed on the triathlon team and earned her degree in Psychology. She recently placed 14th out of 358 athletes at Collegiate Nationals and now races full and half Ironman distances with hopes of going pro. When visiting Miami, she loves open water swimming and admiring sea life. Outside of training, she enjoys hiking, running, and biking Colorado’s trails. 

Hailey was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. She grew up running, swimming, and skiing competitively. She ran cross country and track at Colorado State for three years before transferring to CU, where she joined the club triathlon team. Hailey earned her degree from CU Boulder in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology. She hopes to eventually go back to school to earn a master's degree in Forensic Sciences. Hailey has always enjoyed surfing and open water swimming when traveling to the ocean, and she hopes to learn how to scuba dive in the near future!

Octavio grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, and moved to Longmont, Colorado at 12 years old. He has been swimming his whole life and started competitive swimming in sixth grade, during which he fell in love with the water. Throughout his competitive career, Octavio qualified for state many different times and in two different states, usually with his favorite stroke, freestyle. Octavio loves being in and around the water, especially in the ocean. He has a passion for the ocean and marine life, and is exploring career and education opportunities in this field. He became open water certified in scuba in the summer of 2022, which has only served to reignite his passion for adventure and the ocean!

Christian has been living in Colorado since 2019. Before moving to Boulder, Christian lived in Connecticut and Mexico. Ever since growing up in Connecticut, he loved the water. Whether it was swimming at the local pool or going to the beach, Christian loved to swim and be in water. Christian joined the swim team at 4 years old because he wanted to do what his sister was doing. During middle school, Christian moved to Mexico where he raced in triathlons and learned to speak Spanish fluently. After moving back to Connecticut for high school he continued racing on the competitive swim team and competed at states over multiple years for multiple events. Christian is now pursuing a degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Stephanie is from Sunnyvale, California. She started learning to swim at 9 months old. By the time she was 6, she was swimming competitively, but stopped competing when she started playing club volleyball in middle school. However, she still loved to swim and became a lifeguard in high school. In 2017, she moved to St. Petersburg, Florida to attend Eckerd College where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Marine Science. She moved to Boulder in 2023 to pursue her Master’s degree in Data Science at CU. Stephanie became Scuba certified during her freshman year at Eckerd. During her free time, she loves to swim, play volleyball, read, travel, and scuba dive!

Astrid was born in Tampa, Florida, where they spent countless days at the beach and pool, and summers on their aunt and uncle's boathouse. Their love for the water and marine sciences has always been a driving force in their life, and they are passionate about restoring and protecting our planet's natural environments. As a creative individual, they are constantly exploring different artistic styles and find endless inspiration in the beauty of the world around them. Their favorite marine animal is an orca!

Noella was born in Crystal Lake, Illinois. At 5 months she moved to Longmont, Colorado. She grew up always loving the water. Some of her favorite childhood memories were spent swimming in her local pool with neighbors and friends. She also loves being at the beach and swimming in the ocean! She began swimming competitively in middle school, and continued to do club and high school swim team. She has also been lifeguarding pools and lakes all of high school. She currently attends CU Boulder. Her hobbies include swimming, skiing, art, hiking and reading. 

Jamie is from Aurora, Colorado. She moved to Boulder to go to school at University of Colorado. She is studying political science. Jamie played lacrosse and volleyball her up until college. She loves to cook, hike, and go to the gym. Her favorite thing to cook is homemade sourdough bread. Jamie will be going to culinary school in the fall!  Her favorite marine animal is a turtle because they are known to be risk takers and super cute!!

Oscar was born in Peru but moved to South Florida as a child. That's where he discovered his passion for diving. He became a certified diver and didn't stop until he was working in the industry as a boat dive master and a gear technician. In 2012, he moved with his wife to Colorado to pursue new adventures. Over the next 12 years, he worked in the outdoor industry, managing a variety of stores that included cycling and skiing.

Levi grew up in Lake Tahoe, NV where he developed a deep appreciation for both the water and the mountains. His fascination with diving and the underwater world started with a coral reef ecology study in Bonaire. That led to joining Weaver’s Dive & Travel in 2019 where he focused on learning regulator repair and retail operations. Now as the retail manager and lead service technician at Ocean First South, Levi is here to help you find the best equipment for your needs, keep it functioning properly, and encourage exploration above and below the water.

Growing up on Long Island, NY, Mike was around boats and the ocean his whole childhood. He was OW certified in 2002 in Maui while attending his friend's wedding. Life got in the way of diving after that and he spent 17 years away from scuba diving. In 2019 he took a scuba refresher class at OF before his trip to Belize. On that trip that he decided to get out of the restaurant business, that he'd been in for 26 years, and become a full time scuba instructor. He is very grateful to be able to continue sharing his passion and continuing to educate students about the ocean and marine life while living in Colorado. When he's not diving he enjoys playing music, seeing live concerts, playing golf, going to baseball games, and of course, traveling!

Ruli has been passionate about diving since a young age-- when he did his open water dives in Chicago in the winter, he knew it could only get better from there! While in college, he was involved in a student diving group, leading certification trips to quarries and open water dives in Florida. Since then, he has remained involved in scuba, working to help you find the best gear for your trip, and assisting in scuba instruction.

Evalyn first fell in love with scuba diving in 2022 while on a liveaboard in the Caribbean where she got her open water certification. Afterwards she decided to go on two more trips with the program, taking courses in Marine Biology and receiving her advanced open water and coral restoration certifications. She loves helping new and experienced divers to find the gear of their dreams for their next adventure! 

Scott is an experienced instructor with over 40 years of diving experience and a passion for the underwater world. With more than 3000 dives and a wealth of knowledge about dive sites, he is the ideal person to guide you towards certification. As a Colorado native, Scott also enjoys outdoor activities like frisbee golf, making him a fun and friendly instructor to accompany you on your diving journey.

Matt has been around the water his entire life. At a young age he would swim in his parent’s pool, testing how long he could hold his breath, to see what it was like to be underwater for a long period of time. In high school, he was on the diving team and as he grew older, his passion for the water also grew. In 2001, he took a trip to Cancun where he was introduced to diving with a Try Scuba class. In May 2002, he got Open Water Certificatied and then for the next 7 years volunteered for a dive shop as a Rescue Diver. In 2013, he got certified as a Dive Control Specialist and started working for Ocean First. Matt has worked his way up the Instructor ranks to become a Divemaster Instructor. Matt is also one of the main service techs and helps maintain our facility. Locally, he has logged over 150-175 dives in The Blue Hole in Santa Rosa New Mexico, 75 dives in Homestead Crater in Midway Utah, and 75 dives in Aurora Reservoir. Belize is one of his favorite places to dive!

Cathy grew up in northeast Ohio knowing that she loved science - biology specifically - from an early age. While her interest in marine science started with whales, by the time she got to undergrad, she was enamored with the invertebrates. While in grad school at Florida Atlantic University, Cathy earned her Open Water and Nitrox scuba certifications and gained experience with various projects about birds and sea turtles and everything in between. Cathy moved from Florida to Colorado in 2015 to work full time for Ocean First Education (OFE) where she and the rest of the team develop K-12 marine science content. If you've taken any of the SSI Ecology courses, you're already familiar with the work done by OFE – the two companies partnered several years ago to make marine science education more accessible to divers. 

Mike grew up in upstate New York where he fished and snorkeled around cold, dark lakes as often as possible. His dream was to work at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and spend time in and around the ocean. When his family moved to Colorado, he was forced to put his oceanic career on hold; Mike spent eight years in the military and graduated from Regis College with honors, beginning a career in technology where he became a Chief Information Officer and eventually General Manager for a large data company in Denver. He has traveled extensively for business and pleasure – his favorite land destination was Zimbabwe, and his favorite diving trip was to the Socorro Islands. Mike lives in Broomfield and now splits his time between management consulting, training students in his self-defense business, traveling and diving with his wife Erin and teaching scuba at Ocean First including middle and high school students in the TIDES program.

Shayna fell in love with the water from an early age. Her mom was a scuba instructor in her 20’s and Shayna remembers being amazed using mom’s equipment to breathe at the bottom of the pool. Shayna continued her journey underwater and became a scuba instructor in Roatan, Honduras in 2017. Since then, Shayna has been passionate about learning more about marine life and spreading her love for the ocean to everyone around her. She loves being a part of the TIDES program and helping students discover the wonders of the ocean!

Jon was scuba certified in 1981 in the Florida Keys and, after retiring from Intel Corporation, became a scuba instructor with Ocean First. He enjoys diving in reefs and wrecks and has explored various locations including Bonaire, Roatan, Cozumel, Belize, Tulum, the Caymans, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Truk, Palau, and Yap, often alongside his wife and favorite dive buddy, Kim. Recently, he has been assisting Ocean First Key Largo with teaching and guiding during his snowbird stays in Key Largo. Jon also dedicates his time as a volunteer rescue diver with the Larimer County Dive Rescue Team.

Dean is a Colorado native who didn’t spend much time around the water until serving as a nuclear propulsion officer in the US Navy.  While stationed in San Diego, CA in the early ‘90s, he completed his open water certification and made a number of dives along the west coast before moving back to Colorado in 1994…  after many years away from diving he came to Ocean First in 2017 with his wife and daughter and they all completed their OW certifications so they could dive on a vacation in Belize.   Since then he’s been diving as much as possible, mostly throughout the Caribbean, and ultimately decided to pursue his passion for the ocean and diving by completing his Instructor Certification in 2021.   Dean loves to share his passion for diving and helping others on their journey. 

Andy considers himself “Native Enough” when it comes to Colorado street cred. His family moved to Colorado early in his childhood, and he has been fortunate to split his time between the front range and Breckenridge ever since. His outdoor recreation vocations began during college as a ski instructor on the slopes of Breckenridge, CO, where he still teaches part-time. A summer adventure with Outward Bound confirmed outdoor recreation as a lifelong passion, and that the true reward would be found in sharing those opportunities with others.

Dan was scuba certified by Ocean First back in 1991 when it was still Scuba Joe.  He had wanted to get his scuba certification for several years, but at the time, couldn’t afford it.  He won a certification course as a door prize at an awards dinner.  At the time, he was a volunteer firefighter with Cherryvale Fire (now Rocky Mtn Fire), and is still a volunteer rescuer with the Boulder Emergency Squad.  He went on to become a public safety diver with the Boulder Emergency Squad, and then a Public Safety Scuba Instructor in 1997.  Dan became a corporate trainer for Dive Rescue Int’l in 1998 and remains active with them today.  In 2008 he became a recreational scuba instructor with SSI, and moved on to becoming a technical diving instructor in 2012.  Dan joined Ocean First as an instructor in 2010 and is currently an Assistant Instructor Trainer with SSI.  His passions in diving include multi-gas and multi-tank, deep, sidemount diving, as well as mentoring new instructors.  He also enjoys biking, swimming and shorter distance triathlons.

As Florida native, Drew has been exploring underwater as early as he can remember.  He took his first scuba class in 2008 and became a divemaster in 2010. Eventually, the mountains lured him to Durango, Colorado where he earned a degree in Adventure Education and spent several years working in the outdoor industry. Still, the ocean called and he moved to southeast Asia to continue developing his water skills. He became a Freediving Instructor in 2016 and taught courses in Thailand and the Philippines. To date, Drew has achieved breath holds over six minutes and depths of 200ft. He recently moved back to Colorado and is looking forward to training at altitude and supporting the growth of apnea enthusiasts around the front range.

Neven grew up in Montana and Wyoming and spent most of her landlocked childhood in the swimming pool where she fell in love with being in the water. In college, she had the opportunity to develop her initial scuba skills over an entire semester during her SSI Open Water course, although she didn’t truly fall in love with scuba and the ocean until several years later, as she had a fun and exciting professional mountain biking career in the interim. When she got back into diving, she really went for it, though, exploring incredible diving in Roatan, Egypt, Indonesia, Socorro, the cenotes in Mexico, and Cocos Island, to name a few. She really fell in love with the incredible oceanic ecosystem but most especially with corals and sharks. Additionally, given that Neven has her PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering, it didn’t take long for the appeal of technical diving to draw her in, too, given the meticulous nature of the planning and calculations required for longer, deeper dives and cave diving. 

Hailing from the sunny Gold Coast in SE Queensland, Australia, it didn't take Jardin long to get acquainted with Key Largo. Growing up surfing, surf life saving and playing rugby, he travelled around America for a year to expand his horizons in 2007. Jardin got certified OW in 2007 in the lovely quarries of Illinois. Even without seeing much, he knew that his heart was going to be in the underwater world.  In 2009 he settled down in Key Largo and has been teaching diving ever since. With over 1000 student certifications, Jardin loves to show people around his natural underwater backyard including his 2 kids who have been on the reefs with him since they were 1 month old.  He has also worked for 2 years as the Senior Marine Technician and Captain at the Aquarius Underwater Habitat which is located in 60ft of water on Conch Reef. Before joining the Ocean Reef team, he worked for NOAA as a Marine Ops Tech with the Buoy team.

Troy, a Colorado native, worked as a cost accountant on various infrastructure projects across the U.S. and South America before joining State Farm in 1991. After a decade at State Farm as Director of Management Planning and Information, he started his own construction company in 2001 and retired from the industry after nearly 28 years. In 2018, Troy joined Weavers Dive and Travel and Dream Weaver Travel as General Manager until their acquisition by Ocean First in April 2024. He now leads Key Largo dive operations and enjoys spending time with his wife of over 30 years, their two daughters, sons-in-law, and extended family, as well as diving and SCUBA instructing.

Alisia Carlson (known as Al by fellow divers & crew members) started life in Panama City, FL and fell in love with the ocean as a child. Her first job was as a lifeguard and swim instructor and, no matter what state her family moved to, she found a way to be in the water. While lifeguarding in Mississippi one day, an instructor allowed her to do a quick scuba dive in the deep end. It was MAGIC!!! Years later, in Springfield MO, she was bouncing in and out of college and couldn't figure out what she wanted to do with life. She read a book that suggested thinking of the happiest fifteen minutes of her life and applying that to a career. Immediately that fifteen minutes in the deep end of a pool came to mind and she decided to be a dive instructor! After getting her open water certification in Key Largo she knew it would become her home. A couple of years and a lot of hard work later, she made her home in Key Largo and started building her life and career there. 

Life began for me in North Carolina, my dad was in the Air Force there. As a military brat I lived all over the country but I was always happiest by the ocean. From a young age I was always obsessed with animals, especially the aquatic kind. Being land locked in Missouri for my teen years I always longed for the ocean, weekends on the lake with the pontoon boat and my salt water aquarium would have to tide me over. My dad got me into diving when I was around 13yo, I was instantly hooked and my obsession grew. Eventually I joined the Air Force myself for a decade which lead me to falling in love with Key Largo, while stationed in Tampa i would make the drive down to dive every weekend! When the Air Force took me back to the Midwest, where I met Alisia, I decided to take a big risk, got out of the military, sold everything and made the move to key largo. It was/is a lot of hard work and a lot of trials but 10 years later we're still here! 

Jackson grew up in Fort Collins, CO, and has been passionate about the ocean for as long as he can remember. He became a certified diver at the age of 13 and is now a divemaster—soon to be an instructor! Jackson graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. While in college, he studied abroad in the Turks and Caicos, where he completed a research project on a parasite that affects reef fish. Now, Jackson is working as a dive guide in Key Largo and is thrilled to share his knowledge and love of the marine world with everyone he can!

Alisa grew up in a small town in New York where her love for the marine world started with little freshwater turtles nesting in her grandmas backyard. After graduating from Canisius University with a B.S. in Animal Behavior and Environmental Sciences, Alisa moved on to begin her career in sea turtle rehabilitation in Georgia. From there, Alisa traveled to the Maldives to work as a marine biologist where she completed her dive master certification and got to experience the real magic of the ocean. From the Maldives, Alisa came to the Keys where she worked at Marine Lab and the Turtle Hospital before finding herself here at OceanFirst. Since being here, she also completed her IDC and became an SDI OWSI! Alisa is excited to join the team, work with the TIDES camps, and share her passion for marine life!