Reef Conservation, Research, Education, and Scientific Training

(ReefCREST)





What it is

The ReefCREST Internship was built to give aspiring conservationists and marine biologists the tools necessary to dive into a career in marine science and initiate action. This 6-week internship gives each individual the opportunity to be in the field every day working as a researcher, while also building up conservation diver and PADI/SSI certifications. It is a workload of 240 contact hours, which qualifies domestic and international students for Internship / global placement credit. Each intern will build up their own hypothesis, independently formulate methodologies, collect corresponding data, analyze data, and report findings in publication format. Once completed you will be incorporated into the Conservation Diver network where you will have assistance in nearly all aspects of your scientific career. Assistance includes but is not limited to: grant proposals, fundraising, methodology formulation,  statistical analysis, publication etc. 

What the Day Looks Like


Monday-Thursday we meet at 8 am at our shop in Kakaako. We then go through 1-2 presentations depending on what is to be surveyed that day. At 11 am we make our way to the dive site to conduct at least one 45-75 minute survey dive or coral nursery dive (Check out our Courses to see the range of surveys and coral nursery dives). Dives are usually conducted at Point Panic in Kakaako, and off of the Island Divers diving charters. However, we also shore dive other locations depending on the demand for data collection. at 1-2 pm, we make our way back to kakaako for data collection and debriefing. Once all data is collected, usually around 5 pm, we break for the day, and meet back up the next morning to do it again.


6 week Internship (cont. Advanced EMP / University Credit)

Week 1-4:

Students will complete the ecological monitoring program. For more information of what these weeks look like and what learning outcomes you will achieve, click here. 

Week 5:

At this point, students have begun working on their independent project. Week 5 is spent wrapping up data collection, and analyzing your results. Each intern will be expected to give a presentation regarding their research and defend their results the following week. Therefore, the latter end of week 5 (post-dive) is spent preparing for the presentation.

Week 6:

long-term monitoring continues during this week, however, the afternoons are spent preparing for the research presentation at the end of the week. Interns will wrap up their time in week 6 and prepare briefings so that project data collection can continue. If data collection is not set to continue, interns will be expected to clean up all materials used for their research. On the last day, each intern will be expected to sit in for a post-internship interview to see how we can best help their career moving forward

Certifications Received:

Cost: $3,495 (includes ~50 dives with gear included)


8 Week internship (Scientific Divemaster)


The Scientific Divemaster is geared towards individuals looking to get an SSI Divemaster certification for research-based jobs. Recreational divemaster certifications have a large focus on dive center operations. The majority of Divemaster certified scientists may never hold a job in the recreational diving industry. Therefore, we have built this program to give aspiring marine biologists another option – a Divemaster certification which focuses heavily on science, and translates to recreational professional diving. Students embarking on this internship will need to be rescue certified prior to the start of week 5, and will be forgoing the independent project. If not already certified, the latter end of week 4 can be allocated towards rescue certification. For more information on Divemaster performance requirements for completion, click here.

Certifications Received:

Cost: $3,995 (Includes ~60 dives with gear included)