Naturalist/Expedition Diver

Heather Denham

Heather is from Western Australia. Her interests include travel, scuba diving, sailing, Scouts, exploring nature and marine environments, pottery, mountain biking and socializing with friends and family.

Heather's studies, majoring in Marine Biology and Zoology at the University of Western Australia, were a natural progression from her childhood love of nature, conservation, and the ocean. After dinghy sailing from a young age, she learned to scuba dive at 14 and built on her skills to work on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia as a Dive Instructor. She used both her Australian and American Scientific diving qualifications while completing over 1000 dives in her career and voluntary roles. To date, Heather has worked or volunteered in Australia, America, Alaska, New Zealand, Fiji, China, and Norway.

Heather has sailed on more than 50 voyages on tall ships STS Leeuwin and Tenacious, assisting leadership development for youth and helping people with disabilities to experience sailing on a tall ship. She obtained her Master 5 Captain's ticket through a 12-month cadetship on STS Leeuwin. Heather has been involved with research on bottlenose dolphins, sharks, turtles, dingoes, seaweed, subtidal ecology, and water quality sampling.

Heather loves learning and is always keen to share her wealth of knowledge and experiences with others.