Down Under Instructors

Down Under's finest.

Photo coming soon	Tim Malone had his diving adventures started in 1988 when he took a SCUBA class while a student at N.C. State University. He enjoyed diving in Florida and the local quarries, but wanted to experience the deeper shipwrecks off the N.C. coast. To learn the necessary skills, he enrolled in an Advanced Open Water Diver course and never looked back. Tim earned his instructor rating in 1996 and is currently a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer. He is experienced teaching all levels of recreational SCUBA classes, but particularly enjoys introducing new divers to the underwater world in the Open Water Diver course. When Tim is not teaching, he likes wreck diving off the N.C. coast and any dives in the warm waters of the Caribbean, Central, or South America. He spends much of his underwater time doing photography or video. Tim’s non-diving time is spent with his wife Kimberly (also a SCUBA instructor) and his children.
Photo coming soon	Jaimie Green started diving in 1999 after receiving her open water certification in a cold Wisconsin quarry while attending college. After braving the local quarries there, she went on a trip with several college friends to Bonaire and discovered the wonders of the underwater world. Shortly afterwards, she traveled to Australia where she saw some truly amazing creatures underwater including her favorite, the giant clam. It was there that she started her diving passion, underwater photography. After these trips, she lived in Cincinnati for a while where she progressed in training to become an Assistant Instructor and explored all the quarries that Cincinnati offered. In the fall of 2001, she moved to Raleigh where she was found Down Under and began her training to become an instructor. While in Raleigh, she has been active in diving and attained her Master Scuba Diver Trainer certification in 2002. She has also completed technical training and received her cave diver certification in 2003. Currently, she enjoys dive instruction as a part time job while working at RTI International as a research engineer. Her latest diving adventure took her to Thailand where she was fortunate to see the infamous whale shark and many other unique creatures. You are likely to find her in the local quarries testing out her gear, training students, or in Florida exploring the beautiful underwater caves.
	Bill Jackson is one of Down Under's ole-timers, conducting an occasional recreational scuba class, from open water though Instructor – though he's also occasionally seen lugging a set of doubles. He's certified to teach Gas blending and does some of our mixed gas fill station and compressor maintenance. Warm water diving, u/w photography, beekeeping, and Robbie-Lane are his passions (not necessarily in that order).
	Todd McBride began his diving career by accident. Todd has always enjoyed outdoor sports such as rock climbing and white water rafting, and grew up with a skateboard permanently attached to his feet. In 2000, having the opportunity to spend the majority of his summer at the Beach (i.e. he had friends that lived there so he had a free place to stay) he decided that it was time to learn to snorkel. After taking the time to look at the offered dive training, Todd became interested in SCUBA. Todd is now a PADI certified Open Water Scuba Instructor and Master Scuba Diver. As a Professional Engineer by day, Todd especially enjoys teaching about the technical aspects of recreational diving to Divemaster candidates as well as anybody who has an interest in learning. Todd is also certified to teach the Emergency First Responder course and having been certified as an EMT (Intermediate), he brings a unique and entertaining perspective to this course. Todd has had the opportunity to dive in several locations such as Bonaire, Cozumel, Grand Bahamas, and of course the coast of North Carolina. He can often be found hanging around at the shop in the afternoons or on the weekends if he isn't getting wet and breathing compressed air.
Photo coming soon	Dan Potter had his first encounter with the underwater world of scuba in 1961 through the Boy Scouts. It came in handy in the little fishing village of Sneads Ferry, NC where he grew up. There was a long gap after he left the coast in the early 70's and when his youngest daughter wanted to get certified in 1999. Together Dan and Jessica went through classes at Down Under at a lightning pace and by early 2001 they were both Master Scuba Divers. Dan went on to become a Divemaster and staff member. He has enjoyed diving in many beautiful spots but, his true love is still the North Carolina Coast and it's abundance of wrecks and sea life. As an Account Manager for Sprint he often travels back to the coast and has even found a shore dive near his hometown. Dan says that the hectic professional life he leads is well balanced by the beauty and serenity of the underwater calm he experiences while diving. His love of diving is best expressed when he once said "I even enjoy diving in the YWCA Pool.”
	Sue Davis started diving in 1981 in Japan, but after a 13 year hiatus she started diving again in 1997 in Texas. Since then she has logged over 400 dives and progressed up to instructor. She joined Down Under in 2002. By day she is a technical consultant for Hewlett-Packard, by night, she is a dive maniac.
	Don Zelna has been diving since 1996 and became an instructor in 2002. His favorite dive destinations include Bonaire, Cozumel, and coastal NC wreck diving. He supports his dive habit by working as a Physical Therapist at Summit Rehab Center in Clayton. Don earned his masters degree in physical therapy from UNC-CH in 2000. He and his wife have lived in North Carolina since 1995. They just earned their PADI Labor and Delivery Specialty with the birth of their first child in April 2004. They can’t wait to reintroduce their new daughter to the underwater world.
	Aaron Harmon began his sport diving adventures in 1998 while on his honeymoon in the Turks & Caicos Islands. Since then, there has been no looking back. In addition to his full-time job at Down Under as the Shop Manager, Aaron is also an active PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer. His main diving focus is wreck diving and he can be found frequently off the coast of North Carolina rooting in the sand. Aaron spent a summer as a crew member on a dive charter boat off the NC coast a few years ago and has a keen insight into offshore diving challenges. In addition to acquiring technical diving credentials to enhance his wreck diving experience, Aaron is also an active Public Safety Diver for the Harnett County Sheriff’s Department diving frequently to recover evidence and perform underwater investigations with the Harnett County Underwater Search & Recovery Dive Team. Aaron is also multi-manufacturer certified for scuba equipment repair, cylinder inspection, oxygen cleaning, nitrox/trimix blending and when not diving can be found at the shop helping with all the functions required to operate and maintain a PADI 5-Star IDC dive center.
Photo coming soon	Kim Malone became interested in diving after a great Discover SCUBA Diving experience in the Bahamas. She wanted to stay underwater longer to see more critters, so SCUBA certification seemed like the perfect next step. She became certified in 1991, enjoying wreck diving off the NC coast and reef/wall diving in the Caribbean/Central and South America. Kimberly is currently a PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer and spends much of her underwater time with a Nikonos camera in hand doing photography. When not underwater, Kimberly spends time with her husband Tim (also a SCUBA instructor) and her children.
	Sid Wise loves to share his devotion to diving. He relishes diving in many environments, hovering weightless over tropical reefs, exploring the secrets of underwater caves, examining the mysteries of ship wrecks, hunting fossils and artifacts in the dark waters of the Cooper River, and marveling at aquatic life in the gin-clear waters of Florida's freshwater springs. Sid teaches scuba diving to “share the wealth.” Sid, a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, is also a certified technical diver and cave diver.
	Greg Moore particularly enjoys teaching basic open water classes because it is such a blast sharing the excitement as people discover just how much fun SCUBA diving really is. In addition to teaching at Down Under, Greg is a SCUBA instructor at UNC. As a PADI Master Instructor, he has been fortunate in that diving has provided him the opportunity to travel all over the world and meet hundreds of interesting people.
	Joe Mierwa originally had to be coaxed, in 1991, to try a discover scuba session on the promises of pizza and beer afterwards. He went for it, and the rest, as they say, is history. Joe became an instructor in 1994 and has been both an avid diver and instructor. He's a Master Scuba Diver Trainer as well as a certified scuba equipment technician (for most makes of gear) and a trimix/nitrox gas blender to boot. He's also an alumni of the first technical diving deep air class offered by TDI in 1994, with a certification number of 7. After living, diving and teaching diving abroad for 4 years, he returned to Wilmington, North Carolina where he lives and hangs out. When asked as to why he doesn't teach classes with any of the dive shops in Wilmington, his reply is always "Down Under is the best dive shop around, even this far away".
	Kevin Smit
	Keith Langreck obtained his open water certification in 1993 while living in Iowa. Shortly after that he moved to Wisconsin where he participated in Great Lakes diving. To this day some of his favorite dives are the old wooden ship wrecks that are still intact in the cold waters of the great lakes. In 1997 he moved to North Carolina where he started to dive with the Down Under Surf and Scuba Club and North Carolina Coastal Diving. He soon moved up the ranks to Dive Master and then Instructor. He hopes to see you in one of his classes soon.