Joel Simon
More Information
Joel Simon came to the travel industry after a long history of independent travel. Specializing in educational group travel since 1980, he has participated in over 200 land, sea, train, and plane-based programs for organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution, World Wildlife Fund, American Museum of Natural History, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and California Academy of Sciences. In doing so, he has designed and implemented marine ecology programs to tropical destinations across the globe. As a marine biologist, Joel has extensive experience in the Caribbean and much of the South Pacific, especially Fiji, Tonga, and Australia's Great Barrier Reef. His background in marine biology, coupled with his knowledge of the travel industry, makes him an ideal resource for travel programs focused on shallow aquatic environments. Joel's interest in marine biology began in grade school. While an adolescent he started an Explorer's troop focused on marine biology. While in high school, he was a camp counselor and marine biology instructor at the YMCA Camp on Catalina Island. At age 12, he designed, built, and somehow survived using his own SCUBA equipment. Later, at the ripe old age of 15 (the minimum legal age), he became an NAUI certified SCUBA diver. While a student at Stanford, Joel studied marine biology and engineering, and received both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the university. He also co-taught the SCUBA program at Stanford for five years. For five summers, he worked as a Marine Biology and SCUBA instructor for the Northfield/Mt. Hermon college-accredited summer program on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Joel is a nationally-recognized advocate for marine conservation, especially when it concerns snorkelers. During the 1990s he was an Editor for Skin Diver Magazine writing 40 articles on snorkeling and shallow-water marine biology. In 1995, he founded Sea for Yourself, www.seaforyourself.com, based in Menlo Park, California. The company offers small group marine ecology programs designed specifically for snorkelers of all ages and skill levels to a variety of destinations worldwide. The numerous photographs Joel has taken during his travels to over 90 countries on all seven continents are available through his stock agency, Joel Simon Images. For more information, visit the site at www.joelsimonimages.com.