The Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) has announced that Jessica Patterson is the 2023 recipient of DEMA’s Wave Makers Award.
The Wave Makers Award was first introduced in 2017 and aims to recognize professionals who have been working in the industry for five years or less and have made a significant contribution to the industry during that time.
The Wave Makers Award encourages the Industry to support a culture that fosters innovative thinking and encourages engagement with the association and industry by new professionals.
The finalists for the 2023 Wave Makers Award included:
- Jon Brunson, JBO Production, Inc.
- Jessica Patterson, Ohana Dive Company
- Cynthia Rosselle, One Ocean Scuba
2023 DEMA Members selected Jessica Patterson as the 2023 Award recipient by viewing and voting for the finalist of their choice, based on the biographies and short videos that the finalists submitted.
Jessica has been working with the Brevard Zoo for five years as the co-ordinator of the sea turtle healing centre, she has been a part of the Ohana team for a year now and she has been working with PADI to make Ohana an Eco Diving Centre.
Her passion for the ocean and turtle care is unmatched. Ohana has taken trips to South Florida and done educational tours of what she does at the zoo. She was invited to Atlantis in Nassau to help with the sick turtles at their aquarium. She does research for the turtles, as well as bringing them back to health to be released.
