Route for state-by-state DIVE & cleanup
As an Ocean Ambassador for the Inland Ocean Coalition I'll be tracking my dive and cleanup activities across the US:
- Washington - Redondo Beach with Northwest Dive Club and others 7/30/2020 - 15 lbs collected
- Idaho - Beacon Point, Lake Coeur d'Alene with Jake's Scuba Adventures 8/13/2020 - 35 lbs collected
- North Dakota - Fort Stevenson Marina (Retrieved Wallet for Fisherman). Solo beach cleanup at Garrison Dam location (where I was originally planning to dive) 8/22/2020 - 2.5 lbs dry collected
- South Dakota - Alcatraz Island at Pactola Lake Reservoir with Black Hills Aquatic Adventures (boat dive). Solo beach cleanup prior to dive 8/24/2020
- Participated in Wyoming Chapter IOC reservoir cleanup 8/29/2020
- TBI/Unable to dive as a result of Post-Concussion Syndrome
Project Information & Overview
Hello! I am Northwest Dive Girl – Pam Treischel. I am a scuba diving enthusiast, underwater photographer, and an Ocean Ambassador for the Inland Ocean Coalition, a non-profit headquartered in Boulder, Colorado that strives to build land-to-sea stewardship.
As an Ocean Ambassador, I will be embarking on a journey to scuba dive all 50 states while living small along the way. I will be collaborating with the various Inland Ocean Coalition chapters across the nation to coordinate cleanup events (above and/or below the waters) to bring awareness to environmental issues that impact our lands and ocean. Our efforts go beyond just trash cleanup as we also educate our communities and increase awareness of a sustainable and zero-waste conscious lifestyle.
While I initially planned to fast-track my travels during a short "early-retirement" period, my timing proved differently. The devastation of the 2020 pandemic, and my own losses experienced in a fire, ultimately changed that plan. As I return to work, my passion project must become a longer-term goal. However, I will continue my efforts locally with the Inland Ocean Coalition, starting a chapter here in Washington State. My hope is to ignite a more aggressive and sustainable response to climate change. My efforts may be minuscule in the grand scheme of things, yet I believe every bit of awareness we can promote individually and collectively will increase the overall efforts to ultimately save our lands, our ocean and humanity. Climate change is persistent, and no one is immune - we must be the catalyst for change, now!
For most Americans our ocean coastline is something we only see and enjoy on vacation, yet inland activities and initiatives can significantly impact the ocean and climate for better or worse. While serving as an Inland Ocean Ambassador, I will be utilizing my journey to increase awareness of the Inland Ocean Coalition’s efforts across inland communities, and in response we hope inland citizens will take an active role to improve their land to ocean relationship. Inland communities have a voice for our lands and ocean and the Inland Ocean Coalition will help to ensure that voice is heard.
You can follow my efforts here or on social media #nwdivegirl, #inlandoceancoalition or www.inlandoceancoalition.org. Please join me - together we can make a splash and become part of the solution.
A Little About Me
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and have had the privilege to explore a vast majority of Washington State. I began scuba diving late in life and it has since become an addiction of sorts, followed by my evolving underwater photography, I honestly cannot get enough of it. I advanced my diving certifications in hopes to do something special. Maybe an instructor living the island life? Then I became a grandma! The thought of being so far away from my future dive buddy did not sit well. So, I decided to travel and dive each state, getting to know more of the country I called home. I wanted my journey to be a minimalist adventure, driven by my diving passion and shared with family and friends through my personal travel blog and photography. As I began my planning, I discovered there was a void. I wanted to give something back to nature for the peace and tranquility scuba diving has provided me over the years. So, in addition to diving, I decided to initiate cleanup events along the way to help educate others of what was hidden below the water and heal our waters from the destruction we, the human species, have created. This desire led me to the Inland Ocean Coalition and I joined their Inland Ocean Ambassador Training Program in spring of 2020 to learn even more about ocean issues and ways I could make a difference. I retired early in March of 2020, literally days before the pandemic lockdowns, to give priority to my state-by-state travel endeavor and enjoy it to its fullest. Undeniably 2020 had something else instore...devastation! The pandemic, and my own losses experienced in a fire, sadly destroyed any hope of fast tracking my project. As I return to work, my passion project must become a longer-term goal. However, I will continue my efforts locally with the Inland Ocean Coalition.
About the Inland Ocean Coalition
We are an inland movement that builds land to sea stewardship. Our vision is to support citizens and communities to take an active role in improving the impacts and relationships between the inland, the coastal, and the ocean.
Those who live among mountains, rivers and inland cities have a direct impact on the cycle of life in the ocean. The changes we need to make to address the largest threats facing our seas—lowering carbon emissions, reducing trash and pollution, eating sustainable seafood, safeguarding watersheds, promoting marine protected areas (MPAs)—can happen from anywhere in the world.
In 2011, Vicki Nichols Goldstein founded the Colorado Ocean Coalition (COCO), an organization focused on inspiring inland communities to be stewards of our waters and ocean. Starting in 2015, other inland communities began forming Inland Ocean Chapters. In 2017, COCO responded to the growing network of Chapters and formed the Inland Ocean Coalition based on the premise that you don't have to see the ocean to protect it. As the nation's first Inland Ocean Movement, our goal is to be a wellspring for literacy and community engagement across North America.
Hello! I am Northwest Dive Girl – Pam Treischel. I am a scuba diving enthusiast, underwater photographer, and an Ocean Ambassador for the Inland Ocean Coalition, a non-profit headquartered in Boulder, Colorado that strives to build land-to-sea stewardship.
As an Ocean Ambassador, I will be embarking on a journey to scuba dive all 50 states while living small along the way. I will be collaborating with the various Inland Ocean Coalition chapters across the nation to coordinate cleanup events (above and/or below the waters) to bring awareness to environmental issues that impact our lands and ocean. Our efforts go beyond just trash cleanup as we also educate our communities and increase awareness of a sustainable and zero-waste conscious lifestyle.
While I initially planned to fast-track my travels during a short "early-retirement" period, my timing proved differently. The devastation of the 2020 pandemic, and my own losses experienced in a fire, ultimately changed that plan. As I return to work, my passion project must become a longer-term goal. However, I will continue my efforts locally with the Inland Ocean Coalition, starting a chapter here in Washington State. My hope is to ignite a more aggressive and sustainable response to climate change. My efforts may be minuscule in the grand scheme of things, yet I believe every bit of awareness we can promote individually and collectively will increase the overall efforts to ultimately save our lands, our ocean and humanity. Climate change is persistent, and no one is immune - we must be the catalyst for change, now!
For most Americans our ocean coastline is something we only see and enjoy on vacation, yet inland activities and initiatives can significantly impact the ocean and climate for better or worse. While serving as an Inland Ocean Ambassador, I will be utilizing my journey to increase awareness of the Inland Ocean Coalition’s efforts across inland communities, and in response we hope inland citizens will take an active role to improve their land to ocean relationship. Inland communities have a voice for our lands and ocean and the Inland Ocean Coalition will help to ensure that voice is heard.
You can follow my efforts here or on social media #nwdivegirl, #inlandoceancoalition or www.inlandoceancoalition.org. Please join me - together we can make a splash and become part of the solution.
A Little About Me
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and have had the privilege to explore a vast majority of Washington State. I began scuba diving late in life and it has since become an addiction of sorts, followed by my evolving underwater photography, I honestly cannot get enough of it. I advanced my diving certifications in hopes to do something special. Maybe an instructor living the island life? Then I became a grandma! The thought of being so far away from my future dive buddy did not sit well. So, I decided to travel and dive each state, getting to know more of the country I called home. I wanted my journey to be a minimalist adventure, driven by my diving passion and shared with family and friends through my personal travel blog and photography. As I began my planning, I discovered there was a void. I wanted to give something back to nature for the peace and tranquility scuba diving has provided me over the years. So, in addition to diving, I decided to initiate cleanup events along the way to help educate others of what was hidden below the water and heal our waters from the destruction we, the human species, have created. This desire led me to the Inland Ocean Coalition and I joined their Inland Ocean Ambassador Training Program in spring of 2020 to learn even more about ocean issues and ways I could make a difference. I retired early in March of 2020, literally days before the pandemic lockdowns, to give priority to my state-by-state travel endeavor and enjoy it to its fullest. Undeniably 2020 had something else instore...devastation! The pandemic, and my own losses experienced in a fire, sadly destroyed any hope of fast tracking my project. As I return to work, my passion project must become a longer-term goal. However, I will continue my efforts locally with the Inland Ocean Coalition.
About the Inland Ocean Coalition
We are an inland movement that builds land to sea stewardship. Our vision is to support citizens and communities to take an active role in improving the impacts and relationships between the inland, the coastal, and the ocean.
Those who live among mountains, rivers and inland cities have a direct impact on the cycle of life in the ocean. The changes we need to make to address the largest threats facing our seas—lowering carbon emissions, reducing trash and pollution, eating sustainable seafood, safeguarding watersheds, promoting marine protected areas (MPAs)—can happen from anywhere in the world.
In 2011, Vicki Nichols Goldstein founded the Colorado Ocean Coalition (COCO), an organization focused on inspiring inland communities to be stewards of our waters and ocean. Starting in 2015, other inland communities began forming Inland Ocean Chapters. In 2017, COCO responded to the growing network of Chapters and formed the Inland Ocean Coalition based on the premise that you don't have to see the ocean to protect it. As the nation's first Inland Ocean Movement, our goal is to be a wellspring for literacy and community engagement across North America.
- Mission - To create an inland movement that builds land-to-sea stewardship.
- Vision - For individuals and communities to take an active role in improving the impacts and relationships between the inland, the coasts, and the ocean.