Melissa Smith is a senior editor for Scuba Diving. An avid writer, scuba diver, backpacker and all-around outdoor enthusiast, she holds degrees in journalism and sustainability studies from the University of Florida. Before joining Scuba Diving, Melissa worked as the executive editor of EcoWatch and as the communications manager of The Ocean Agency, a nonprofit featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary Chasing Coral. Her work and expertise have been featured in outlets such as USA Today, The Guardian, National Geographic, Climbing magazine and MarketWatch.
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Melissa Smith Articles
Use your screen time for good by joining a citizen science project that aims to help researchers and governments target conservation efforts on the Great Barrier Reef.
A mother-daughter team of citizen scientists have discovered a coral colony roughly the size of a football field. It’s the largest colony ever recorded.
Get a taste of the pirate life off the coast of Florida. A famed ship from Disney's iconic pirate tales is now ready for divers to explore.
PADI AWARE aims to collect 20,000 signatures from divers, instructors, operators and ocean advocates urging decision-makers to enact stronger protections for sharks and rays during CITES CoP20.
Live in luxury when you dive with any of these boats, from the Galapagos the Maldives.
Ocean sand can transmit stony coral tissue loss disease, which has killed millions of coral colonies in Florida and the Caribbean since 2014.
A pristine reef unaffected by coral bleaching has been discovered in Tahiti more than 100 feet deep by a team of divers mapping the ocean floor for UNESCO.
Millions of icefish nests were discovered more than 1,600 feet below the ice in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea.
The ichthyosaur, excavated throughout August and September 2021, is the largest and most complete specimen ever discovered in the U.K.