Rhian is a deep-sea and polar ecologist at the University of Maine. Prior to 2011 Rhian was not scuba certified, and had only dived in submersibles to thousands of meters below the surface. However she co-wrote a proposal that would use scuba to study Red Tree Corals usually found at over 500m depth, but that live at just 10 meters in Southeastern Alaskan fjords. With the funding Rhian completed Open Water, Advanced, Drysuit and Rescue courses, and now has projects in Alaska, Chile and the Gulf of Maine. She has since completed her technical dive master qualification so she can share her skills with students. She will use this award to offset costs of Trimix training to allow deeper exploration for more deepwater emerged populations.