101 Outstanding People in Asia’s Dive Industry: Education
To honour those who have supported, influenced, and spearheaded Asia’s Dive and conservation industry, UW360 has put together a list of significant individuals. This list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it a ranking. We recognise that there are many other deserving individuals who have contributed to the industry, and we would like to thank every diver, scientist, conservationist, educator, photographer, and volunteer for their commitment to the ocean.
Education
98. Eve Young
Founder, MissVsea Marine Solution Workshop
Eve Young is a freelance writer, Sea Shepherd’s Ocean Quest Trainer and Ambassador for Swarovski Optik. She is also in partnership with Swarovski Optik Marine Conservation Education Program and founder of the MissVsea Marine Solution Workshop. She organises marine conservation forums, sharing research on marine conservation efforts and educating the public by raising awareness for the protection of the ocean.
99. Neville Coleman
Publisher
Multi-award winning photographic environmentalist Neville Coleman has been seriously recording the aquatic wildlife of the Asia-Pacific region since 1963. With over 1,000 published articles in over 150 magazines, 100,000 images and 65 marine life natural history books (29 self published) to his credit he is one of the most accomplished underwater educational authors in the world. In 1969 /73 he led the Australian Coastal Marine Expedition on the first underwater photographic fauna survey ever attempted around an entire continent. Since then he has completed over 160 expeditions throughout Australia and across Indo-Pacific, documenting some 12,000 species of aquatic flora and fauna and discovering over 450 new species of marine life. Neville Coleman passed away on May 5, 2012.
100. Stephen Beng
Chairman, Nature Society Singapore
Stephen serves as Chair of ‘Friends of the Marine Park’, a network supported by the National Parks Board, bonding multiple stakeholders of Singapore’s first marine park to keep users active while ensuring reef life remains protected. He also leads the marine conservation arm of Nature Society (Singapore), where he actively works with authorities and businesses to address sustainable development challenges. As President of Singapore Underwater Federation (2006-2010), Stephen integrated environmentally sustainable practices with industry operating procedures. He developed and implemented the National Operational Code of Practice and Audits for diver safety. Stephen’s company, Sea Hounds, received the Singapore Environmental Achievement Award 2012 and retained the PADI National Geographic Dive Centre award for 10 years.
101. Akira Tateishi
Publisher, Marine Diving Magazine
Akira Tateishi was the Editor/Publisher of several magazines and a leader in the diving community of Japan. For more than four decades, he helped focus Japanese and international attention on underwater photography through movies, television, magazines, and newspapers. Tateishi designed and built an underwater camera housing, the Tateishi Bronica I, so that he could bring back images of underwater scenes and paint them. He was an underwater cameraman on the film titled Umi wa Ikiteiru (The Living Sea). In 1958, he founded The Marine Art Center. During 1959, Tateishi made is first underwater film in 16mm, titled Kaitei no Doubutsu (Underwater Animals). Later that year, his biography, 1,000 Hours of Underwater Filming, was published. Tateishi started the first scuba diving magazine in Japan, Marine Diving, in 1969, later launching Um to Shima no Tabi (Travel Diver Magazine). In 1988, Tateishi published Marine Photo, a magazine for underwater photography. Akira Tateishi sadly passed away in 2012.