For the first time, Memorial University will host the annual general meeting of the Canadian Association for Underwater Science (CAUS).

Memorial has been a member of CAUS for 33 years.

On Feb. 24 more than 100 divers will gather in St. John’s for a full day of presentations from speakers representing diving institutions Canada-wide. The conference is significant for divers and, unlike this year’s event, is rarely open to the public.

“This will help them become more conscious of safety and keep them proficient in their field.” — Mark Bailey

“This symposium is an opportunity for both the occupational and recreational diving community to see how other Canadian diving institutions conduct their business and to become current on nation-wide best practices,” said Mark Bailey, Memorial’s diving safety officer. “This will help divers become more conscious of safety and keep them proficient in their field.”

The keynote speaker, Jill Heinerth, is a Canadian cave diver, underwater explorer, writer, photographer and film maker. Ms. Heinerth has made television productions for PBS, National Geographic Channel and the BBC, consulted on movies for directors including James Cameron, written three books and produced documentaries.

Dive safe

Ms. Heinerth will present Expedition Files: Setting Up for Safety in Field Work, sharing the back story of how she has created a culture of safety on numerous diving expeditions from the inside of giant icebergs to the deepest manned dives off Bermuda’s volcanic sea mounts. Other speakers include the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland and Labrador presenting on the topic of Volunteer-based Underwater Archaeology Growing in Canada.

The second day of the event is the annual general meeting, to take place at Memorial’s Ocean Sciences Centre in Logy Bay.

CAUS is a non-profit, volunteer organization promoting safe diving practices and developing peer-reviewed standards of practice for scientific diving. It provides a national forum for information exchange and policy-making for scientific diving.

For information and to register, please visit here.