Training Staff

Jay Elson, PADI Silver Course Director

Jay Elson began diving 42 years ago in central Illinois.  After spending many childhood years watching the “Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau,” it was just a matter of time before he would become a certified diver and explore the underwater realm for himself.  Jay has had a wide range of diving experiences in both freshwater and marine ecosystems.  From the muddy-brown lakes and rivers of central Illinois to an underground mine in Missouri, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, East Coast to West Coast, from the Caribbean to Central America, Jay has enjoyed the pristine beauty of life beneath the waves.  To this day, his most memorable dive was with a fifty-foot humpback whale near the British West Indies.  His favorite dive destinations include Belize and Little Cayman.


When not diving, Jay works as an engineer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.  He enjoys the outdoors, and has spent a great deal of time camping, backpacking, and hiking with the Boy Scouts.  He also enjoys underwater videography as a hobby.

Jennifer Elson, PADI Assistant Instructor

Jennifer Elson has been diving since 2001 and has logged more than 300 dives.  She earned her Divemaster rating in 2006 and her Assistant Instructor rating in 2013.  Jennifer has been diving all over the Caribbean and Central America.  Some of her favorite dives included shark feeding in the Bahamas and enjoying the magnificent coral topology in Belize.


When not diving, Jennifer supports an engineering group at LANL, consults to a large mining company in Arizona, mothers four children and four Siberian Huskies, and makes great desserts for students learning to dive.

Marc Burnside, PADI IDC Staff Instructor

Marc learned to dive while in college in 1985.  Diving was a new adventure and Marc enjoyed diving mostly off the California coast.  He expressed a desire to be an instructor shortly after learning to dive.  A career and a young family put that on a back burner for 15 years.  In the early 2000’s he rediscovered the love of diving in Hawaii and began developing certifications, becoming a dive professional in 2006 and a PADI instructor in 2013.


Marc loves teaching students.  He loves diving the Caribbean and Hawaii.  He has also been know to enjoy diving cold and murky waters that we find inland so often.  His favorite dive memory was diving with the Manta Rays off the coast of Kona, Hawaii.  Experiencing that with 3 of his 5 children was pretty special.

When not diving Marc works as an engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory and can often be found mountain biking or cycling the cool mountains we have around New Mexico.

Steve Mosier, PADI IDC Staff Instructor

Steve Mosier has been diving since 2009, when he received his Open Water certification. His philosophy is that you can never have too much training in a sport such as diving; hence he earned his Advanced Open Water certification in January 2010, Rescue Diver in October 2010, Master Scuba Diver in March 2011, Divemaster in May 2011, Assistant Instructor in April 2013, and Open Water Scuba Instructor in August 2013.  He has logged over 250 dives, including trips to Mexico, Honduras, and the Pacific. Memories like being surrounded by a school of Atlantic Spadefish taking turns cleaning themselves on his fins confirm that Scuba is the coolest hobby around.

When not diving, Steve works as an elementary teacher at Ponderosa Montessori in White Rock. He spends much of his time outdoors camping and hiking with Boy Scouts, birding (a great prep for fish ID when diving a tropical reef), and geocaching (he has hidden the only Scuba cache in New Mexico at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa). His only regret about living in Los Alamos is the lack of local diving opportunities.

David Seagraves, PADI IDC Staff Instructor

In 2007, Jay came up to my oldest son and me and asked if we would be interested in Scuba Diving.  My son took less than a second to say yes!  All I thought was, we live on a mountain, how can we dive here?  Needless to say, it sounded like an adventure, so we took the plunge.  The minute that we got certified, we wanted more, so we signed up for the Advanced class in 2008.  Again, we wanted more, so we continued our training and became Rescue Divers in 2009.  It was on our first ocean diving vacation when we earned our Master Scuba Diver certification.  By then, we knew we were going to be lifelong divers.


From that point, I wanted to help my Instructor with scuba classes, so I became a Divemaster in 2011.  The feeling of helping other divers was very rewarding.  From there, I wanted to continue my diving education.  Taking the AI course and becoming an Assistant Instructor made me realize that I could become an important part of an exciting sport.

I Live, therefore I Dive!

Finally in 2015, with a lot of encouragement from Jay, Steve, and Marc, I took the next step.  I took the full Instructor Development Course (IDC) and then the Instructor Examination (IE).  The IDC was intense, but when it was all finished, I can’t describe the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment that I experienced.  Now that I’m an Instructor, I’m ready to help others realize the awesome feeling that is Scuba Diving.


Live to Dive, Dive to Live.

Sammi Owens, PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor

I started scuba diving at 19 years old, training in Boulder, Colorado and obtaining my Open Water Certification in Honolulu’s Hanauma Bay.  Easily moving among the large schools and diversity of fish was the most amazing experience I ever had!  I’m pretty sure either I have mermaid DNA or was a merperson in a former life because I am happier underwater swimming around then walking on land!   My diving buddy back in the 80’s was my stepfather so when he developed medical issues and I got married and had kids, my dive adventures got put on hold for about 26 years until my 19-year-old son saw a scuba diving advertisement and asked if we could learn to dive.  When I told him I was a diver already, he was quite put out that I hadn’t included diving in their raising.  I hadn’t realized scuba in New Mexico was a thing!   So we learned how great Santa Rosa’s Blue Hole is for training and the rest of the family got certified! 

We have had many wonderful family dive vacations including Fiji, Hawaii, Roatan, Cozumel, Cancun, Bonaire, Belize and more!  And my parents have had a wonderful time traveling with us to these great destinations even though they don’t dive.  I have logged over 160 dives with so many exciting diving experiences it is impossible to pick a favorite.  I caught Rhode Island lobster by hand and ate them fresh on the beach, dove with more than 45 Bull Sharks in Fiji’s Pacific Harbour, marveled at the Dr. Seussical quality and giant size of the coral formations off Wananavu Fiji, swam through the canyon coral formations in Cancun, speared and ate lionfish in Roatan, explored ship wrecks diving from shore in Bonaire, lazily enjoyed drift diving off Cozumel and more.


My dream list includes free diving with Whale Sharks, enjoying the 27 acre scuba park on the edge of the Juan de Fuca Strait off of Edmonds Washington, visiting Viet Nam, Cuba, Thailand and more of the Indio Pacific locales.


Being a Scuba Instructor gives me the ability to share my love of the aquatic environment and supporting Divers Alert Network (DAN) and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) provides a connection with a strong network of experts working to improve fishing populations, and coral, sea life and ocean conditions.  Come join us and experience the excitement for yourself!

Ryan Elson, PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor

Ryan Elson first earned his Open Water certification in 2004, his Divemaster rating in 2012, his Assistant Instructor rating in 2013, and his Open Water Scuba Instructor rating in 2014.  Ryan has enjoyed well over 100 dives at destinations such as Belize and Cozumel.


When not diving, Ryan attends the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, Rhode Island.  Ryan is an avid outdoorsman.  If he can’t be underwater, Ryan most enjoys paddling a canoe at the surface.

Sam Elson, PADI Assistant Instructor

Sam Elson has been diving since age 10.  He earned his Junior Master Scuba Diver rating by age 12.  Sam became a Divemaster in 2012, at age 18, just before he graduated from high school.  In the summer of 2013, Sam went on to earn his Assistant Instructor rating.  Sam has enjoyed over 100 dives at destinations such as Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel.


When not diving, Sam found time to earn a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering at the New Mexico State University.  He can often be found relaxing to a favorite movie or computer game.

Alan Bond, PADI Assistant Instructor