Dene Roth grew up in a small desert community outside Pheonix, Arizona in the United States. But that didn’t matter. From a young age, she was called to the ocean. Her youth was spent daydreaming about turquoise coastlines, a swim in the ocean or chance to dive below the waves. She would wonder about underwater environments and creatures, curious about their activities, interactions and habitats. In high school this curiosity led Dene to become, in her words, obsessed with sharks. Mesmerised, she’d spend countless hours researching them, learning more about their personalities, social lives, role in ocean ecosystems and, unfortunately, the many threats affecting their rapid decline. She slowly learned more about other ocean issues, like overfishing, marine debris, and more…  Before she knew it, she had become an ocean activist – educating friends, family and classmates on the most pressing issues faced by the ocean today.

When Dene attended college, she immediately jumped at the opportunity to participate in a study abroad program at the University of Queensland in Australia. After all, the ocean was calling – it had been for years. Dene followed her passion and became a certified scuba diver, allowing her the chance to see beautiful reefs and extraordinary marine life first-hand in one of the world’s most incredible dive locations. Upon graduating, Dene travelled to Key Largo, Florida, US to do more diving, just for fun. But in the blink of an eye, she was back just two weeks later to begin her scuba dive instructor training!

Since then, Dene has joined the Rainbow Reef Dive Center team in Florida, US as a dive instructor. Here, she leads guests on dive expeditions and assists with course development and dive center operations. Drawing on her passion for ocean conservation and desire to make a positive impact on the marine life that she so loves, Dene encouraged her team to start doing community organizing for ocean protection. Project AWARE’s Dive Against Debris was the perfect fit.

Dene helped lead Rainbow Reef Dive Center in their first Dive Against Debris survey in late 2015. Fifteen volunteer divers surveyed two local dive sites, removing more than 120 pounds of debris from the sea floor. With such impressive results, the team decided to extend Dive Against Debris efforts to once a month. While the dive center has always been debris-conscious (at least 4-8 dive boats go out per day and pick up trash found while out on dives to bring back for proper recycling or disposal), Dive Against Debris surveys and data reporting have helped them to make a more positive and impactful contribution to ocean protection.

Dene explains, “Our students have a blast during Dive Against Debris. My favorite part is seeing people that have never met each other connecting and working together to bring up as much trash as possible.”

Dene’s and Rainbow Reef’s Dive Against Debris efforts are improving the health of local dive sites, bringing the community together, and educating the public on the marine debris issue. Perhaps more important, though, is the fact that Dene and Rainbow Reef have committed to consistent, monthly clean-ups that will provide repeated data over time. Consistent, repeated data helps Project AWARE better locate and understand sources of marine debris, how it enters ocean environments, and travels undersea – the more we understand what is happening underwater, the better we can stop marine debris at the source and prevent it from harming undersea environments in the future.

Project AWARE thanks Dene for following her passion for ocean protection and committing to sustained, monthly Dive Against Debris surveys in 2016.

Want to join Dene in the fight against debris? Commit to consistent Dive Against Debris surveys in 2016 and beyond!