2012 Divers of the Year

Michael Aw’s images have earned him more than 61 international awards. In 2010, Outdoor Photography named Michael one of the world’s most influential nature photographers. His essays and images have been featured in BBC Wildlife, National Geographic, the Smithsonian, Nature, Ocean Geographic, Asian Geographic, and Nature Focus etc. In 2010 he won the prestigious Gold Diver award in the Portfolio category at the World Festival of Underwater Pictures in France. In 2011, Michael is a judge for the BBC Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Peter was an avid shipwreck underwater explorer and maritime attorney for more than 30 years. His clients have been involved with the recovery of Spanish galleons, Gold Rush shipwrecks, windjammers laden with Oriental porcelain, 20th-century luxury liners, warships and warplanes, and sunken pleasure yachts. Peter led and/or participated in five archaeological expeditions to the 235-foot-deep USS Monitor. It was Peter’s unyielding and passionate advocacy for divers worldwide that allowed access to historical wrecks, which led to the creation of several maritime and nautical exhibits throughout the world. Peter passed suddenly this January 12, 2012. He will be missed.

Maria Hults is a scuba diver since the 1950s. Among the first women in America trained as a NAUI Instructor (#4564), she later became a NAUI Instructor Trainer. As PADI Instructor (#18109), Maria certifies over 100 divers yearly for Pan Aqua Diving. She has trained Green Berets, New York Fire Department Rescue Teams #1 and #2, and FBI Underwater Photo Evidence Teams. Maria is an underwater photojournalist who also teaches underwater photography. Training and education are Maria’s fields of expertise.

As Maria puts it, “The only way I can contribute, protect, and nurture our oceans is by creating awareness of what beauty and glory lie under the ocean’s surface; teach how we may move within them, do no harm, and discover how very important they are to man’s basic existence. In this manner I am able to introduce diving to future generations, instill those generations with the wonder, respect, enthusiasm, education, and safety creating in an atmosphere of learning, and fun. I just love bringing the messages from beneath the sea and of our growing concerns about the state of our oceans and those that make their home in them to anyone who will stop and listen. There is so much to learn, so much to teach about the underwater environment and of man’s place in the oceans, that my enthusiasm never wanes. If, as the man said, knowledge is power, then the desire for change can only be created from knowledge, and I have spent my career communicating that knowledge to the listening public.”

For twenty-five years Bobbie Scholley served in the United States Navy as a Diving and Salvage Officer. She entered the Navy in 1981, joining the first wave of women assigned aboard Navy Ships. In 1983 she attended Naval Basic Diving Officer School. During her illustrious career, Bobbie served aboard 4 Navy Ships; her last ship, the USS BOLSTER, a Diving and Salvage ship, she commanded from 1992 to 1994. As Commander, Bobbie Scholley was the fourth woman in U.S. Naval history given command of a U.S. Navy ship. On leaving the USS BOLSTER, Bobbie was assigned as the Diving and Salvage Officer to Combat Logistics Group TWO. In 1996, during this assignment, she would be the senior Diving Officer responsible for the Recovery Operation, off the coast of Long Island, of the ill-fated TWA Flight 800. This combined effort of Navy and Law Enforcement Divers managed to recover all the victims, and over 95% of the Boeing 747. In 1997, Bobbie becomes the first woman Supervisor of Diving for the Navy. In 2000 she would be the first woman to be Commanding Officer (CO) of Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) TWO. It was as CO of MDSU TWO that she led a team of 13 divers in support of recovery efforts on the USS COLE in Yemen after it was hit with a terrorist Bomb. In 2001 and 2002 you could find Bobbie leading the USS MONITOR archeological recovery expeditions, harmonizing Navy divers with NOAA in 240 feet of seawater to successfully recover this Civil War iron-clad’s unique steam engine and revolving gun turret. Promoted to Captain in 2002, Bobbie’s next assignment was Command of the Naval Weapons Station in Earle, New Jersey. These were the early and dynamic days supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the weapons station operated 24/7, providing 80% of the ordnance for Navy and Marine Corps units deploying to Iraq. Bobbie’s final tour with the Navy was as Chief of Staff Officer for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group TWO. She retired from the U.S. Navy August 2005. Captain Scholley’s decorations include the Legion of Merit Medal, six Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Navy Commendation Medals, two Navy Achievement Medals, the Navy Unit Commendation, three Meritorious Unit Commendations, and the Battle Efficiency Ribbon. Bobbie Scholley has, in addition to her twin nine year old daughters and Navy SEAL husband, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Illinois State University, an MS in National Resource Strategies from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, an honorary Doctorate of Science from Illinois State University (ISU), and is a member of ISU’s College of Science and Arts Hall of Fame.