Scientific SCUBA Diving

CCU divers assist in research projects that address important economic issues for South Carolina, including renewable energy, beach renourishment, and water quality studies, helping to assure a prosperous future for South Carolina. CCU students now have the opportunity to gain scientific training, status, and experience, giving them another advantage in the competitive fields of the scientific and academic job market.

Contact Steve Luff, Dive Safety Officer, for more information.

CCU Dive Manual (PDF)

CCU Diving Control Board:

• Dr. Erin Burge
• Dr. Paul T. Gayes
• Dr. Sharon Gilman
• Brian Johnson
• Jamie Phillips 

Equipment such as the SEACAT and ADCP are used to assess the potential wind, wave and tidal current energy available offshore of South Carolina. Scientific divers are necessary to deploy, service and recover instruments vital to these efforts.		Spotted cleaner shrimp residing on a giant anemone photographed during student research projects as part of undergraduate classes in coral reef ecology and scientific diving in Discovery Bay, Jamaica.
Scientific divers are currently studying the impact of invasive lionfish on reef fish communities in North and South Carolina, and in Jamaica. This Indo-Pacific native has successfully expanded its range throughout the western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea.		Archaeologists practice the same techniques under water as on land. Pictured here are excavations of an 18th-century shipwreck in the Red Sea that taught Egyptian students and archaeologists how to apply their skills in an underwater environment.