Born and raised in California, Brian learned to dive in January 2000 in Cozumel and, like many divers, was immediately hooked the moment his eyes went underwater.  After returning to Seattle he promptly started diving, often, logging well over 100 dives a year in Puget Sound.

After working as a Divemaster for a couple of years, he completed his NAUI instructor training in 2004 and began teaching in January of 2005 and has been actively teaching since, also creating and developing several of his own, agency-approved curricula.  

In 2008, he was 1 of 9 instructors, worldwide, invited to attend the first ever UTD Crossover/IDC in San Diego.  The rigorous and grueling 9, 14-hour day IDC consisted not only of being trained in teaching in the UTD methodology, but the 9 instructors, along with founder Andrew Georgitsis, also helped frame and create the curriculum, standards and procedures and the UTD "playbook".   

Brian is a UTD Instructor Trainer, member of the UTD Training Advisory Board and is 1 of 3 North American UTD Trimix Instructors.

He's trained the Seattle Aquarium's dive staff, and has helped to integrate team diving techniques and procedures into their dive operations and program.  He's also trained them in the use of DPVs, allowing the Aquarium to safely incorporate DPVs into its field operations.

Brian has a true passion for all aspects of of diving, whether it's a shallow monkey dive, a 240' technical wreck exploration dive in 46 degree water, a stage dive 2000' into a cave or exploring a flooded mine.  He's fortunate enough to live in an area with world class ocean, lake and wreck diving right in his backyard and he takes full advantage of every opportunity to get in the water and is very active in the local dive community.

He especially loves teaching divers to be safer, more competent and confident divers.  His dedication to his students is his first and foremost priority.  His teaching style is more of a mentoring approach...he teaches as if he's building his own team, which is often the end result, since many of his students join him in his explorations and projects.  He maintains a healthy balance of fun & exploration dives and instruction/training dives and has been very active in developing a UTD community in the Pacific Northwest.  

When teaching, he draws from his own extensive experience and explorations, providing the students with realistic training, developing skills they'll use in their own dives and explorations.

Diving has taken Brian to some exciting locations.  He's cave dived the cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula, of which he has a particular fondness.  He's logged over 100 dives on Maui and Kauai and has dived in Cozumel, California, Oregon and all along the coast of British Columbia and Vancouver Island and has also dived the WWII wrecks off the coast of North Carolina, including the U-352 and Papoose.

When he's not teaching, Brian can be found at the gym, listening to his iPod, or planning and researching his next dive.  He particularly enjoys technical wreck exploration and diving on his X-Scooter.  He enjoys the discipline required for technical diving and the exploration opportunities technical diving and the X-Scooter provide.

EQUIPMENT

Brian uses Apeks DS4/TX50 (backgas), DST/XTX50 (deco) and HOG D1 cold (stage/deco) regulators, HOG, Agir-Brokk and Dive-Rite wings, Fred Tagge plates, Salvo, Light Monkey (right) and Gulftex lights (left), Salvo & Aquanuts reels, Dive-Xtras Sierra X-scooter, Diving Concepts drysuits, FKD Notes, Halcyon smb's, and Suunto, Liquivision and Uwatec gauges.