In June 2015 we caught up with Arianna Hemi, who is assisting Vince Kerr with the Baited Underwater Video project, to find out what it is that drives her.
“Yes, I am a Northland girl – born and bred! I lived in Kaeo for the majority of my life and I’ve always been infatuated with the ocean. One day I saw a course in the Bay Chronicle called Marine Adventure and Ecotourism and I decided to enroll. I learnt all about the marine environment and it sparked a passion within me to work towards a degree in science. (News: July 2015)
"I moved to Tauranga (Bay of Plenty Polytech) in early 2014. I’m a single mother, it’s just me and my two boys here and all our whanau are in the Bay of Islands. At the moment I am busy studying three papers so it’s been full on! I’m studying the Instructor Development Course (IDC) which is really important to me as I want to become a dive instructor as it opens up a whole range of job opportunities in the fields of diving and marine biology.
"My long term goal is to return home and work with my community to educate people of all ages - especially youths - by working in schools and teaching them on how to protect and preserve our unique environment. I believe that education is the key to providing a future for our children and helping them to learn that our environment is our economy, our society and our livelihood.
"Without a healthy, sustainable environment how can anything else be beneficial?”