Julie’s voyage with GXG began as an ActionQuest student in 2004. She quickly became an AQ regular in the summers to thaw out from the winters in her hometown of Madison, WI. After becoming a divemaster with AQ in 2009 and eventually a PADI instructor, Julie worked for GXG for many years as a mate/dive instructor. While she has spent most of her time in the BVI programs, she did a stint as staff on Ocean Star where she gained an appreciation for longer sailing adventures and rougher seas. While attending Wellesley College, Julie spent one of her semesters abroad with the School for Field Studies in rural Baja California Sur, Mexico researching marine mammals and biodiversity conversation. Apart from ocean life, Julie’s other passion is public health, and she took a hiatus from GXG to pursue a Master of Public Health from Columbia University and has since been conducting health care research in Washington, DC. In her free time, Julie is an avid traveler and has been to 40+ countries across every continent – ask her about week scuba diving with Buzz Aldrin in the Cayman Islands. She can’t wait to get down to the BVI and back in the water this summer.