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popular within both the diving and general travel communities over the past decade. Voluntouring opportunities abound for scuba divers. An Internet search can provide information on a wide range of chances to help and dive, from working at local aquariums to gathering research data on dive trips around the world. Te work is often performed for nonproft organizations that rely heavily on the eforts of volunteers to meet their program goals. “Volunteers make up the mainstay of our programs,” said Lad Akins, special projects director for REEF. “We have a dedicated but small staf, and the many thousands of volunteers who travel to project destinations allow us to collect the volumes of data that have made our programs so successful. Without our volunteers this data simply would not exist.”

Sometimes volunteering consists of a dedicated task, such as conducting fsh counts or other data collection, while other opportunities require only the sharing of your experience, such as downloading dive profle data for use in DAN’s research.

You don’t have to sacrifce a great time to make a diference. Get started. Do some research, and contact the projects or tour operators that appeal to you. Whatever your underwater interests, a voluntourism opportunity exists to combine your love of diving with the desire to contribute to science and society.

EssEntial thErmal ProtEction