Open Water SCUBA Diving
Coaching Staff
Michael Miller
An exciting offering in Brentwood Athletics, Open Water SCUBA Diving has been embraced at the School and the future of this program is teeming with life and depth.
This program supports the novice SCUBA diver and advanced athlete alike. In the past year the majority of Brentwood students in this course completed their PADI Open Water Diver Certification, and two completed their Advanced Open Water Certification.
Training begins with a visit to an indoor pool and several in-class sessions—including demonstrations and a guest speaker known for advocating for women as professional SCUBA divers. From there, the group will move into open water ocean dives off the Brentwood campus oceanfront docks, as well as in other interesting nearby beach areas. Boat dives are offered, as well, and the whole program wraps up with a delicious crab roast on the beach at the end of spring term.
Brentwood SCUBA encourages wonderment, exploration, and conservation throughout the program and considers the ocean at our doorstep to be the best possible lab, playground, and classroom.
Miller Michael
B.Sc. (Guelph), M.Sc. (Saskatchewan), P.D.P.P. (Victoria); Biology
Michael J. R. Miller was born and raised in the non-wilds of Mississauga, Ontario. A fascination with animals led to a degree in Zoology which eventually turned into a passion for birds. He then migrated westward to Saskatchewan where he completed a M.Sc. investigating lead poisoning in Bald Eagles. Work as a field biologist led him to Arizona and sites throughout western Canada and Ontario, all working with various raptor species. During and after graduate school, Michael taught in biology labs at both the Universities of Saskatchewan and Victoria, and it was there that he realized how much he loved teaching. He completed his teaching credentials in 2006, and began teaching in the Cowichan Valley School District. Within the last six years, Michael returned to school to re-visit the French language and has since taught in both the language and science departments at several schools in the Cowichan Valley. Mr. Miller is known for his infectious enthusiasm in the classroom and for his use of puns to spice-up lessons. Outside of school, Mr. Miller and his wife Karena are busy raising their sons Jonah and Sam, whilst caring for a variety of other domestic vertebrates. He and his family can often be found out exploring areas of Vancouver Island “where the wild things are” on foot and via kayak. A keen interest in astronomy and aviation also keep Michael’s eyes skyward when not looking for birds.
