Staff

Matt Allen

Matt started diving in the summer of 1999.  Made his 100th dive in 2005. He loves to wreck dive and his favorite wreck is the Niagara 2 in Tobermory Canada. Matt’s goal is to dive all 5 Great Lakes and every wreck in the St. Lawrence river. “LOL, he had better get diving”

Elizabeth Byrd 

Elizabeth began diving in 2006. After working at NAS full-time, Elizabeth left to pursue a PhD in Agricultural Economics. She still helps out by generating ideas and designing emails.Her most memorable dive to date is stealing an underwater kiss from her fiancée on their annual New Year’s Eve Dive. Elizabeth’s favorite dive site is Mount Storm, WV because it’s off the beaten path and full of curious catfish. Her diving “claim to fame” is that she has never been scuba diving without her drysuit- even in the Caribbean. She also enjoys snorkeling, freediving, and underwater photography.

Kevin Cahill 

In the summer of ’94 I was searching for something. I found what I was looking for in buoyancy. SCUBA gave to me what I couldn’t find on land. Since then I have logged 1089 open water dives. Even though the Caribbean dwells in my soul, I would be lost without my Friday night dives on Skaneateles Lake. My favorite site? Wherever Grand Dad takes us. Dive long and prosper.

Kenneth Cameron

Ken started diving in 1997. Ken completed the ‘Century Diver’ Level (100+ Dives) in 1998.Ken’s favorite diving spot in Central New York is the wreck of the ‘Wolfe Island II’ ferry outside of Kingston Ontario. In all the oceans of the world Ken likes Bonaire the most.

Mike Druce

Mike started diving in 1988. He completed the ‘Century Diver’ level (100 dives) in 1992. He reached the 500 dive level in 1998. Mike is a member of the full time staff at NAS. His favorite spot to dive in Central New York is ‘Red Hook Wall’ located in Skaneateles Lake. Most memorable dive to date is on the Empress of Ireland. Dutch Springs Quarry, PA and Mount Storm WV among his favorite dive spots. Still enjoys Skaneateles Lake very much. YES, he enjoys warm tropical waters with lots of colorful fish,  just don’t get there as often as he likes.

Tia Hastings 

Tia started diving in 2006 and joined the staff of National Aquatic Service as a Dive Control Specialist in 2008.Tia took her certification course at Syracuse University, took her first scuba trip to Belize in February of 2007 with National Aquatic and was hooked ever since.  Her favorite local dive spots are ‘Sherwood Forest’ and ‘Red Hook Wall’ in Skaneateles Lake.  She enjoys the local trips to Dutch Springs in PA every summer and wreck diving on the St. Laurence River.  Traveling to faraway places and tropical locations is by far Tia’s favorite type of diving. Traveling to the Galapagos Islands to dive with whale sharks and hammer heads was an amazing experience and she is always looking forward to the next great adventure.

Frank Misurelly

Frank began diving in 1997.  He became a Century Diver and an Instructor in 2000.He has made dives in the Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean Oceans and the Great Lakes.   He’s been diving off the Channel Islands in California going through kelp forests.  In the Caribbean, he dove off of Curaçao among the mushroom coral and exotic fish.  In the Atlantic he been diving off the coast of Florida from Pompano Beach to Key Largo.  The most memorable dive was on the Spiegel Grove, naval recovery ship put down as an artificial reef.  As special as that dive was, he feels some of the best wreck diving is in the St. Lawrence Seaway, having been on several wrecks over the years.

Lonnie Nash

Lonnie began teaching recreational SCUBA in 1979, certifying divers in New Jersey and the Florida Keys through PADI. In 2018, Lonnie earned his SDI Instructor certification and is excited to be teaching in Central New York. He is passionate about sharing his love of diving and looks forward to working with students to discover the amazing wonders of our underwater world.

Joshua Newfield

Josh began getting involved with scuba diving after taking a course with National Aquatic for college in 2002.  Since then he has had over 200 dives and traveled all over the world to do so.  From the reefs of Fiji, the Finger Lakes, cenotes of Mexico, the Blue Hole in Belize and aquarium of Disney World, Josh has had experience just about everywhere and has lots of stories to share.  You can typically find him diving in Skaneateles Lake on the National Aquatic boat, Grandad, or helping assist certifying college students at the lake.  His favorite spots are the caves and cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

Ellen Olney

Ellen started diving in the Fall of 2004 She completed her 400th dive in March 2013 while diving in Fiji. Ellen enjoys diving the Great Lakes, Finger Lakes, Adirondack Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. Her favorite dive destinations include the Caymans, Dominica, Bonaire and Skaneateles Lake. She is a member and an officer of the New York State Divers Association and Central New York Scuba Club, a member of the International Society of Aquatic Medicine and Club Aquarius.

Joel Pape

Growing up on a large lake in Northern Arizona/Southern Utah, Scuba Diving had been a goal for most of my life. The goal became a reality in 2004 when I became certified to scuba dive. Since then I have enjoyed hundreds of dives in the Finger Lakes, The Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence river. My passion for scuba diving developed into a passion to take others diving and has led to me becoming a scuba instructor. I have been assistant instructor and now an instructor at both SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College, and hope to keep sharing my love of diving for years to come.

Tom Pierson

Tom was certified in 1999. After some time away from diving Tom has gotten bit by the diving bug again and is proceeding to work on becoming an SDI Divemaster.

Chris Ryan

Chris started diving in 2003. In 2010 he reached the Century Diver level. Chris is a full time staff member at NAS. His favorite place to dive is any wall in Skaneateles Lake. His most memorable dive would be a night dive at Dutch Springs Quarry watching all the dive lights moving around the wall of the quarry. Skaneateles Lake is his favorite place to be either diving or driving National Aquatic Service’s boat Grandad. Chris also started Freediving in 2012 and enjoys going out freediving when he can.

Steve Vetter

Steve started diving in 2001. He completed the ‘Century Diver’ level (100 dives) in 2004. He reached the 500 dive level in 2010. Steve is a part time member of the staff at NAS. His favorite spot to dive in Central New York is Lourdes Camp located on Skaneateles Lake. His latest favorite dive was in Beqa Lagoon Fiji. Dutch Springs Quarry, PA and The Islander in Alexandria Bay are among his favorite dive spots.