Bernie Chowdhury
Safety First: Lessons from The Last Dive

The light-hearted meets the serious in this examination of diving safety. The lessons learned from The Last Dive are applicable to all types of diving. This engaging slide and video presentation will focus on the wreck and cave diving world, as discussed in Bernie Chowdhury's book The Last Dive, with safety lessons for everyone. So, whether you dive in 10 meters or in 100 meters of water, attend this talk so that YOUR next dive is not your last!

Biography
Bernie Chowdhury has worn many hats during his 22 years in the diving industry: instructor, expedition organizer and leader, documentary co-producer, equipment marketing and development consultant, writer, publisher, and lecturer.

Among his many expeditions are: organizing and leading the first surveying and mapping of any of Iceland's underwater caves; organizing the first organized sport diving mixed gas expedition to the shipwreck Andrea Doria (76 meters); Participating in the British Army's search for, discovery, and diving of H.M.S. Pheasant, off the Orkney Islands, Scotland (85 meters); wreck exploration in the Norwegian Arctic; exploration of the German heavy cruiser Blucher, in Oslofjord, Norway (91 meters).

He founded and was publisher of IMMERSED: the international diving magazine, a high-quality, quarterly publication that was distributed from January 1996 and was recently acquired by Phil Nuytten, owner of Canadian-based DIVER magazine. Bernie is the editor of a tech column in DIVER. He is also the editor of "Historical Diving" magazine, published by the Historical Diving Society, USA. Bernie is also on the Society's Board of Directors.

His award-winning book, The Last Dive has received worldwide, critical acclaim, and has been published in eleven languages.

Bernie Chowdhury was named "2001 Diver of the Year - Education" by Beneath the Sea, which annually holds North America's largest consumer diving convention. He has been a Fellow of the Explorers Club since 1995 and carried the Club flag on his Icelandic Cave Diving Expedition.

Bernie also works in the field of hyperbaric medicine, and is a board-certified hyperbaric medical technologist (CHT) in the U.S.