009_ANESTI VEGA_“Challenging the Preconceived Notions”_Oceanographer, Educator and SCUBA Instructor

We speak to Anesti Vega, Executive Director of US Expeditions and Exploration (USX), a nonprofit scientific research agency dedicated to connecting military veterans with STEM field research opportunities. We partner with researchers that need data in remote/austere environments and recruit veterans with survival skills in those environments and help them continue a strong sense of purpose by launching expedition missions to collect that data. I started with the organization in 2018 as an expedition leader that launched the ocean research programming, was promoted to Director of Operations in 2019, and have been serving as Executive Director since 2020. Under my leadership, we have facilitated teams of veterans that have conducted kelp forest research off the coast of Big Sur California with Reef Check Foundation, cryosphere and snowpack data in the Juneau Icefields in Alaska with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, whale shark migration research in Hawaii with the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Atlantic shark migration research and tagging with the University of Miami. www.usx.vet

• SCUBA Council Chair for Diversity In Aquatics, an international nonprofit that supports, educates, and promotes water safety and aquatics activities for marginalized communities. In that role, I focus on creating accessibility to SCUBA and ocean exploration by consulting with industry leaders such as PADI and NAUI to make the community a more welcoming place for all, through scholarships, representation in training/marketing materials and cultural competency training. We also distribute information on access points to SCUBA for our members and support the highest safety standards in the industry. www.diversityinaquatics.org
• Independent professional SCUBA Instructor with PADI and NAUI, and Adaptive SCUBA Instructor with Diveheart. I host a number of programs (mostly pre-COVID), some in partnership like with Reef Check Foundation, that create accessibility to SCUBA for marginalized communities including Indigenous communities and people with disabilities. www.naui.org and www.diveheart.org
• I also work part-time at the Underwater Technology Laboratory at the Florida Institute of Technology where I leverage my leadership and project management skills to help guide a number of remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) for ocean exploration. 
• BACKGROUND:
• Established a previous career of freelance digital media and photo-journalism... covering events, protests, and direct actions on environmental justice and ocean advocacy. Partners and clients included: 350.org, Center for Biological Diversity, International Indian Treaty Council, Ocean Protectors Coalition, and Indigenous Environmental Network. Through SCUBA, scientific diving, and citizen science work... I decided to switch careers to the ocean sciences in 2018 when offered a position with USX.
• Served in the US Army as an Infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division and Intelligence Analyst with 7th Special Forces Group. Deployments to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Colombia.
• Grew up navigating foster homes as a young child and homelessness as a teenager before graduating high school and joining the Army.