Underwater researcher nationally recognized

An IU professor has been appointed to the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. \nProfessor Charles Beeker currently serves as the director of the Office of Underwater Science and the Academic Diving Program at IU. His position on the committee is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's effort to "help establish a national system of marine protected areas to facilitate management and future protection of significant submerged cultural and biological resources," according to a press release.\nBeeker, who has more than 40 years of diving experience and 25 as a teacher, has been an archeological activist for most of his career and engages his students in projects involving conservation, environmentalism, underwater park preservation, archeology and SCUBA techniques. \nBeeker heads the IU Underwater Resource Management program through the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. His work establishing and researching underwater parks and annual academic expeditions across the continent has established him as a pioneer in his field. He credits this for helping him obtain the nomination to this national council.\nBeeker encourages students in any major to explore the world of underwater research. \n"It is compatible with any field of study. I have a student who is majoring in chemistry working with us," he said. The options are limitless, in demand and beginning to gain exposure, he added. \nBeeker and 30 other knowledgeable counterparts are charged with balancing "conservation needs with commercial and recreational interests, while protecting the marine environment for present and future generations" of national waters. \nBeeker said he believes he will continue his life's work in his new position.\n"It's what I've already been doing," he said. \nBeeker and his students have conducted underwater research projects on submerged ships, cargo and other cultural and biological resources throughout the United States and the Caribbean for more than 20 years, culminating in several nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. \nBeeker is also the underwater park adviser to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and is a member of the nonprofit Project AWARE, an environmental organization for the dive industry.\n"Professor Beeker is by far my favorite professor at IU," said student Laura Burke. "He really knows his stuff and is so enthusiastic about teaching his students that we are all eager to learn." \nStephanie McAfee has been on two research trips with Beeker.\n"Since he is so passionate for his work, he projects this passion on his students, causing us to become passionate about the work as well," she said. "He will do anything within his power to combine fun with research."\nTo learn more about the Academic Diving Program, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~scuba.