News
Women Divers Hall of Fame Recognises Cody Unser
For anyone who has lost the use of their limbs, scuba diving can bring a special sense of freedom.
29-year-old Alberquerque-based Cody Unser has made it her mission to bring paraplegics like herself the opportunity to experience scuba diving.
“When you’re down there, you’re no longer seen as disabled,” Unser said. “You feel a self awareness – something that lets you know you’re OK.”
Her work through the Cody Unser First Step Foundation, which she started with her mother, Shelley Unser, in 2000, and the veteran-oriented project Operation Deep Down – which begun in 2005 – has brought her recognition from the Women Divers Hall of Fame.
Unser will be inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in April at a ceremony in New Jersey, making her the first disabled diver among the 200 members of an international organization that honors women who are pioneers in their field, have achieved a world record or made a significant impact in dive-related safety, education and leadership.
“This is huge for the disability community,” said Shelley Unser.
‘Sister of the Sea’
Joan Forsberg, board chairman of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, said they were proud to give Unser the honor she deserves.
“Cody has qualifications in so many of our criteria. She’s taken her disability and turned it into an ability – and who can’t applaud that,” Forsberg said.
She said the organisation typically accepts only six women each year and the selection process is highly competitive.
“We’re really looking for leaders,” Forsberg said. “That’s one of the most important criteria.”
For Unser, becoming a “Sister of the Sea” as the Hall of Famers call themselves, is a recognition of her role as a woman in a historically male-dominated sport and as a representative of the disability community.
“I feel very honored to be a part of this. A lot of these women are super smart, they’ve done so many things,” said Unser.
Unser was paralyzed from the chest down at age 12 by transverse myelitis, a neurological disorder caused by inflammation of the spinal cord.
Life-changing impact
Through her foundation Unser has worked to raise awareness, foster medical collaboration and develop programs for paraplegics. She worked with camps for children with conditions like spina bifida and cerebral palsy to enable them to experience diving. Unser also helped initiate a 2011 study in the Cayman Islands in which she participated along with several paralyzed veterans that looked at the effects of diving on those with paralysis.
Privately funded, the study showed some divers with disabilities experienced improvement in sensation, tone or motor function, according to Dr. Adam Kaplin, neuroscientist and principal psychiatric consultant to the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurology, who was the lead investigator for the study.
Kaplin wrote a letter recommending Unser for the Hall of Fame.
“Cody’s contributions have had a life-changing impact on thousands of handicapped individuals she has personally touched by organising, developing and promoting the role that diving tailored for the disabled can play in safely liberating them from their physical constraints,” Kaplin wrote.
Unser, who has been studying for a master’s degree in public health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., was in Albuquerque this month to take part in the Feb. 13 scuba day at the ABQ BioPark Aquarium. She gave a presentation on her work with the foundation. Her next goal is to raise funds to bring children who have dived in a swimming pool to the ocean.
Unser also did a demonstration dive in the aquarium’s shark tank with Women Divers Hall of Fame member Susan Kayar, a biologist and science writer who has done dive research for the U.S. Naval Research Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
Source: www.abqjournal.com
The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
To complete its mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup uses a dual strategy: cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) to remove the plastic already afloat in the oceans, while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.
Through cleaning operations in the GPGP and in rivers in eight countries, the cumulative total of trash removed has now surpassed ten million kilograms. This milestone demonstrates the acceleration of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact, while underlining the astonishing scale of the plastic pollution problem and the need for continued support and action.
While encouraging for the mission, this milestone is only a staging point: millions more tons of plastic still pollute our oceans and The Ocean Cleanup intends to continue learning, improving and innovating to solve this global catastrophe.
This announcement comes as governments from around the world meet to continue negotiations to develop a new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at INC4 in Ottawa, Canada. Representatives of The Ocean Cleanup will be in attendance and the organization will be urging decision-makers to collaborate towards a comprehensive and ambitious global treaty which addresses plastic at all stages of its life cycle and in all marine environments worldwide, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
It is encouraging to see that the need for remediation is reflected in the various options for potential treaty provisions. It is essential that the final treaty contains clear targets for the remediation of legacy plastic pollution, and reduction of riverine plastic emissions.
Tackling plastic pollution requires innovative and impactful solutions. The treaty should therefore incentivize the innovation ecosystem by fostering innovations that make maximal use of data, technology and scientific knowledge – such as those designed and deployed by The Ocean Cleanup.
‘After many tough years of trial and error, it’s amazing to see our work is starting to pay off – and I am proud of the team who has brought us to this point.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘While we still have a long way to go, our recent successes fill us with renewed confidence that the oceans can be cleaned.’
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 and captured its first plastic in 2019, with the first confirmed catch in the GPGP coming soon after the deployment of Interceptor 001 in Jakarta, Indonesia. After surpassing one million kilograms of trash removed in early 2022, the non-profit project has since progressed to the third iteration of its GPGP cleaning solution, known as System 03, and a network of Interceptors currently covering rivers in eight countries, with more deployments set for 2024.
About The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up the legacy plastic that has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Marine Life & Conservation
Steve Backshall to headline Shark Trust’s flagship event: For the Love of Sharks
Join a host of amazing, shark loving, speakers including Steve Backshall and the Shark Trust team for an evening celebrating shark conservation at the Royal Geographical Society in London this November.
Date: 29th November 2024
Time: 6-10pm
Location: Royal Geographical Society, London
Tickets: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
The event will be a celebration of all things shark. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will hear from engaging guest speakers with a passion for sharks.
The line-up includes (*subject to change if unforeseen circumstances arise)
Steve Backshall: One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve has been passionate about the wild world ever since he was young.
Steve’s impressive TV career has taken him all around the world, investigating a wide array of species and environments. Steve has filmed over 100 hours of children’s wildlife programmes with the BAFTA award winning Deadly 60 franchise and recently, with Sky Nature, for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’. He has been a patron for the Shark Trust for 10 years.
Simon Rogerson: is a photojournalist specialising in natural history, diving and the sea.
He is editor of SCUBA magazine, the official journal of the British Sub-Aqua Club. Simon started his career as a crime reporter but gravitated towards his ‘less depressing’ interest in underwater exploration, joining the staff of DIVE magazine in 1999. In 2005 he was named ‘Editor of the Year’ in the PPA’s Independent Publishing Awards. Simon also works as a freelance writer, contributing frequently to the Sunday Times and Telegraph, in addition to BBC Wildlife, Esquire, and a host of international diving magazines. He is the author of a book, Dive Red Sea, published by Ultimate Sports. Now based in Berkshire, Simon has been a Patron of the Shark Trust for 20 years.
More speakers to be announced soon. Head to the Shark Trust website to learn more.
The evening will also allow guests the final chance to see the Oceanic 31, shark art exhibition. Some of the artwork will be auctioned/raffled at the event, while the rest will be auctioned online to raise money for the Shark Trust Oceanic Programme.
For the Love of Sharks is an evening with something for everyone who is interested and fascinated by sharks. Join the Shark Trust, their Patrons, Trustees and Staff, along with a host of supporters for this celebration of shark conservation.
For more information or to buy a ticket: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
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