Pamela Balash-Webber
   HOME
*





Pamela Balash-Webber
Pamela "Pam" Sue Balash-Webber (1953-2020) was an American diving instructor and ocean conservationist. She was born in Albion, Michigan, and lived most her life on Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She had a sister. Balash-Webber worked for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) organization for many years, and became a district course director in 1989. She was one of the first two American women to teach recreational diving in Russia. With her husband, Andre, she owned and ran a diving club on Saint Thomas. They worked together to have moorings installed at dive sites in the United States Virgin Islands to protect the reefs from damage. Andre died in 2014, 54 years old. Pamela died in late 2020, after having fought with scleroderma and rheumatoid arthritis for several years. They share an underwater memorial at Andres reef, near Buck Island. In 2022, she was one of five women to be inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame The Women Divers Hall of ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Pamela Balash-Webber
Pamela "Pam" Sue Balash-Webber (1953-2020) was an American diving instructor and ocean conservationist. She was born in Albion, Michigan, and lived most her life on Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She had a sister. Balash-Webber worked for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) organization for many years, and became a district course director in 1989. She was one of the first two American women to teach recreational diving in Russia. With her husband, Andre, she owned and ran a diving club on Saint Thomas. They worked together to have moorings installed at dive sites in the United States Virgin Islands to protect the reefs from damage. Andre died in 2014, 54 years old. Pamela died in late 2020, after having fought with scleroderma and rheumatoid arthritis for several years. They share an underwater memorial at Andres reef, near Buck Island. In 2022, she was one of five women to be inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame The Women Divers Hall of ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


United States Virgin Islands
The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles to the east of Puerto Rico and west of the British Virgin Islands. The U.S. Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas and 50 other surrounding minor islands and cays. The total land area of the territory is . The territory's capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas. Previously known as the Danish West Indies of the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway (from 1754 to 1814) and the independent Kingdom of Denmark (from 1814 to 1917), they were sold to the United States by Denmark for $25,000,000 in the 1917 Treaty of the Danish We ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Underwater Diver Training
Diver training is the set of processes through which a person learns the necessary and desirable skills to safely dive underwater within the scope of the diver training standard relevant to the specific training programme. Most diver training follows procedures and schedules laid down in the associated training standard, in a formal training programme, and includes relevant foundational knowledge of the underlying theory, including some basic physics, physiology and environmental information, practical skills training in the selection and safe use of the associated equipment in the specified underwater environment, and assessment of the required skills and knowledge deemed necessary by the certification agency to allow the newly certified diver to dive within the specified range of conditions at an acceptable level of risk. Recognition of prior learning is allowed in some training standards. Recreational diver training has historically followed two philosophies, based on the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

People From Saint Thomas, U
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility. The defining features of personhood and, consequently, what makes a person count as a person, differ widely among cultures and contexts. In addition to the question of personhood, of what makes a being count as a person to begin with, there are further questions about personal identity and self: both about what makes any particular person that particular person instead of another, and about what makes a person at one time the same person as they were or will be at another time despite any intervening changes. The plural form "people" is often used to refer to an entire nation or ethnic group (as in "a people"), and this was the original meaning of the word; it subsequently acquired its use as a plural form of ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


American Female Divers
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * B ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Women Divers Hall Of Fame
The Women Divers Hall of Fame (WDHOF) is an international honor society. Its purpose is to honor the accomplishments of women divers, and their contributions to various fields of underwater diving. Full membership is restricted to nominees who have been found to meet the WDHOF's criteria, which include being an underwater diver and having contributed to diving in ways recognised as being significant. The WDHOF was founded in 1999 by a group of people and organizations, including the Underwater Society of America. The initial 72 women were inducted in 2000, followed by 26 new members the next year. The WDHOF also awards scholarships and training grants. Members As of 2022, there are 250 members. They include (induction-year in parentheses): * Pamela Balash-Webber (2022), co-founder of the Virgin Islands Diving Association, PADI course director, and promoter of ocean conservation. * Carole Baldwin (2003), scientist, author, and educator. An authority on marine biology, especi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge
Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge is located about 2 miles (4 km) south of the island of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands of the United States. Adjacent to the refuge is Capella Island, about half the size of Buck, owned by the territorial government. There is a second Buck Island just north of St. Croix that is the centerpiece of Buck Island Reef National Monument. The refuge is characterized by a thorn scrub habitat with rocky coastline surrounded by spectacular reefs. A lighthouse (still maintained by the United States Coast Guard) stands over of cactus and grassland. The island was transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service due to "its value for migratory birds." The U.S. Navy transferred some lands in 1969 and the remainder was received from the Coast Guard in 1981. The surrounding waters contain reefs and a shipwreck that attract large numbers of snorkelers, divers, and boaters. The islands are surrounded by beautiful coral reef habitats and an ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involved, with the same joints typically involved on both sides of the body. The disease may also affect other parts of the body, including skin, eyes, lungs, heart, nerves and blood. This may result in a low red blood cell count, inflammation around the lungs, and inflammation around the heart. Fever and low energy may also be present. Often, symptoms come on gradually over weeks to months. While the cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not clear, it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The underlying mechanism involves the body's immune system attacking the joints. This results in inflammation and thickening of the joint capsule. It also affects the underlying bone and cartilage. The diagnosis is made mos ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Scleroderma
Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas of thickened skin, stiffness, feeling tired, and poor blood flow to the fingers or toes with cold exposure. One form of the condition, known as CREST syndrome, classically results in calcium deposits, Raynaud's syndrome, esophageal problems, thickening of the skin of the fingers and toes, and areas of small, dilated blood vessels. The cause is unknown, but it may be due to an abnormal immune response. Risk factors include family history, certain genetic factors, and exposure to silica. The underlying mechanism involves the abnormal growth of connective tissue, which is believed to be the result of the immune system attacking healthy tissues. Diagnosis is based on symptoms, supported by a skin biopsy or blood tests. While no cure is ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Moorings
A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''anchor mooring'' fixes a vessel's position relative to a point on the bottom of a waterway without connecting the vessel to shore. As a verb, ''mooring'' refers to the act of attaching a vessel to a mooring. The term likely stems from the Dutch verb ''meren'' (to ''moor''), used in English since the end of the 15th century. Permanent anchor mooring These moorings are used instead of temporary anchors because they have considerably more holding power, for example because of lesser damage to the marine environment, and are convenient. Where there is a row of moorings they are termed a tier. They are also occasionally used to hold floating docks in place. There are several kinds of moorings: Swing moorings Swing moorings also know ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Virgin Islands Daily News
The ''Virgin Islands Daily News'' is a daily newspaper in the United States Virgin Islands headquartered on the island of Saint Thomas. In 1995 the newspaper became one of the smallest ever to win journalism's most prestigious award, the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The newspaper is published every day except Sunday. The paper maintains its main office on Saint Thomas and a smaller bureau on Saint Croix. Business history The ''Virgin Islands Daily News'' was founded by Ariel Melchior Sr. in 1930, with business partner J. Antonio Jarvis leveraging a tourist brochure financed with a bank loan cosigned by friend Adolph Achille Gereau. With the success of the brochure he was able to attract further advertising and convince his family and the bank to extend a larger loan. He first produced an updated guide to the island and with the proceeds bought a second-hand press. With the profits of the newspaper, he repaid the bank. Melchior was just 21 at the time. The paper was fou ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Recreational Diving
Recreational diving or sport diving is diving for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment, usually when using scuba equipment. The term "recreational diving" may also be used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of recreational diving which requires more training and experience to develop the competence to reliably manage more complex equipment in the more hazardous conditions associated with the disciplines. Breath-hold diving for recreation also fits into the broader scope of the term, but this article covers the commonly used meaning of ''scuba diving for recreational purposes, where the diver is not constrained from making a direct near-vertical ascent to the surface at any point during the dive'', and risk is considered low. The equipment used for recreational diving is mostly open circuit scuba, though semi closed and fully automated electronic closed circuit rebreathers may be included in the scope of recreational diving. Risk is managed by tra ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]