Jessica Keller Honored as DEMA’s 2018 Wave Makers Award Recipient

** Announcement Made at the 2018 DEMA Awards Party **

The Diving Equipment and Marketing Association is pleased to announce that Jessica Keller is the 2018 recipient of DEMA’s Wave Makers Award. The announcement was made at the 30th annual Black & White inspired DEMA Award’s Party.  The event took place in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 16, 2018, to honor the 2018 recipient and finalists and celebrate the careers of the 2018 Reaching Out Award Recipients.

The Wave Makers Award was first introduced in 2017 and aims to recognize professionals who have been working in the industry for five years or less and have made a significant contribution to the industry during that time. The Wave Makers Award encourages the Industry to support a culture that fosters innovative thinking and encourages engagement with the association and industry by new professionals.

Other finalists for the 2018 Wave Makers Award included:

• Mike Johnson, Michael Johnson Entertainment
• Allie Paschen, Leaird's Underwater Services
• Italino Pietrantonio, Air Hog Scuba

2018 DEMA Members selected Jessica Keller as the 2018 Award recipient by viewing and voting for the finalist of their choice, based on the biographies and short videos that the finalists submitted.

JESSICA KELLER is an underwater archaeologist for the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center. She graduated with a Master of Science Degree from the Recreation, Parks and Tourism Studies Program focusing on the development, sustainability and archaeological interpretation of underwater parks from Indiana University. The Submerged Resources team travels all over the country to assist National Parks with their underwater resources through the use of remote sensing surveys, shipwreck mapping and documentation, or natural resource management such as lionfish in Biscayne National Park or crown of thorn removal in American Samoa.

Keller is dedicated to industry growth through her work focused on outreach and education for children. She created an educational booklet that has been published by the National Park Service’s Junior Ranger Underwater Explorer Booklet. The booklet, which can be downloaded for free at the website nps.gov/submerged, is also available in Spanish.

DEMA congratulates Jessica Keller for her dedication and service to our Industry and looks forward to seeing the contributions she will continue to make throughout her career.