WSU Scuba Diving Director Receives Prestigious Award

A Washington State University professor has received an award for excellence in service from the National Association of Underwater Instructors, after helping approximately 4,000 students become certified scuba divers who have used their skills to head off on their scuba diving holidays or explore the breathtaking marine world of shores closer to home.

Barry Moore, father and scuba diving expert, has directed the PEACT 131 program at WSU since 1982 after becoming certified himself at the university in 1980 while he studied for his Ph.D in engineering.

The course accepts between 70 and 100 students each semester who will undertake a lecture course carried out by Moore, and a lab course. Because of liability reasons, students must certify as divers independently of the university but Moore’s training program has a success rate of between 85 and 90 per cent, with no injuries to date.

Whether the students are looking to train as divers for their scuba diving holidays, or become certified so that they can fulfil underwater photography careers, the course educates students on all areas, from respecting the marine environment during their scuba diving in the Caribbean or Maldives, to breathing techniques during professional dives.

Moore commented: “I am very proud of our students, our instructors and all that we have achieved together in establishing and sustaining one of the best programs in the country.”

It appears that the passion for scuba diving runs in the family, with Moore’s daughter, Ariel David, and her husband Preston, both certified instructors through the program.

“Being that she grew up around the water, my daughter … has always been a swimmer,” he said. “In fact, she is a little fish.”

Ariel was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma just before she graduated high school and underwent extensive chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant to treat the disease.

Despite this, Ariel was determined to continue with her life and after graduating from WSU two years ago, she has married her high school boyfriend and she now teaches the scuba program, training several of the current instructors.

One if those instructors, junior neuroscience major Garrett Myren, said Moore’s love for his family is reflected in his teaching style, saying: “Barry really treats everyone in the program really closely.”

Another instructor, senior biology major Michael Zacher, said: “It’s not so much scuba as it is teaching and bettering people.

“It’s great watching people get over their fear. It’s nice when you can break through that wall and then watch people have some of the greatest days of their lives.”