Laird Brown - Owner
Laird Brown has been around water most of his life. His 20 years in the U. S. Navy exposed him to some of the best diving technology available. After serving 2 years at the Navy’s Advanced Test Station, Laird was assigned to Project CURVE which was responsible for the development of the Navy’s first unmanned underwater vehicle. This vehicle was utilized extensively in the recovery of unexploded munitions from the ocean floor. Due to his expertise with this system Laird was instrumental in the Atomic bomb recovery off Rota, Spain in over 3000 feet of water. Completing his tour of duty with Project CURVE Laird was reassigned to Aircraft Rescue in the Philippines and later attended the Navy Dive School aboard the U. S. S. Simon Lake. Laird became involved with Undersea Outfitters in 2004 where his enthusiasm and expertise became an immediate asset. In 2013 Laird assumed ownership of the corporation. His years of experience and his infectious enthusiasm insures that Undersea Outfitters will continue to provide the best possible service to the diving community.
Dave Apple - Instructor
Ever since he saw his first Sea Hunt episode and Jacques Cousteau Special as a youngster, David Apple has been fascinated with the underwater world. As a diver for over 20 years, he found he wanted to share his excitement and love of SCUBA Diving with others. As a professional educator, David has a personal philosophy of, Never Stop Learning!, and learn as much as you can. Experience is a great teacher, but also ask questions from those who are more experienced! David’s favorite diving activities include diving on and exploring the historic shipwrecks of the Mid-Atlantic, and photographing the beautiful tropical reefs and fish of the Florida Keys and the Caribbean from the Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos Islands to Cozumel and Honduras. David was originally trained by SSI and worked his way up to attaining the rating of Dive Control Specialist Instructor. David is currently teaching Open Water and Advanced Courses under SSI, PADI, SDI and PSAI, where he holds the rating of Master Instructor.
When not exploring our underwater world and teaching SCUBA classes, you can find David teaching instrumental music at the middle school level in the Howard County Public Schools, or playing his trumpet with various groups in the Baltimore Area.
Lee McNulty - Instructor
Prior to becoming an Open Water instructor and instructor for a number of specialties, Lee had been a Dive Control Specialist for Undersea Outfitters for several years. Frequently assigned to students who were having difficulty with learning basic Open Water skills, Lee can offer an almost unlimited level of patience as well as innovative approaches towards helping students overcome most learning hurdles. He uses traditional, proven teaching methods that are then customized to the individual student’s strengths, diving goals, life’s experiences, and scuba-related expectations.
Aside from Scuba instruction, Lee’s wife, daughter and son are certified divers. He is also a student of Caribbean history, pirate lore, historical shipwrecks, and diving literature (with a library to match!)
Travis Dixon - Instructor
Travis started diving in 2006 after he and wife Kim decided that they wanted to do the Epcot DiveQuest experience for their 10-year anniversary trip in 2007. It only got worse from there. Quickly hooked, summer weekends started getting spent in Hyde’s Quarry whenever possible. In 2008, he made his first liveaboard trip to warm, clear water, and really discovered just how enjoyable diving could be. Since then, he’s been to the Great Barrier Reef, as well as the Chesapeake Bay, Caribbean Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean, all the while coming ‘home’ whenever possible to the quarry.
Travis started down the path to being a dive professional in 2015, and became an SSI Dive Control Specialist in 2016, and an Open Water Instructor (SSI #74146) in 2019. Why did he become an Instructor? Simple - to help improve the dive education experience for those that choose to do their dive training with Undersea Outfitters.
When he’s not underwater, Travis plays with cars. He helps run a High Performance Driving Education program for the Washington DC Region of the Sports Car Club of America, and also gets out for the occasional Autocross. In real life, he does boring IT stuff for the people that make the weather, and lives in Westminster with wife Kim, three awesome rescue dogs, and a cat who doesn't really care for him.
Jason Niver - Assistant Instructor
Jason started diving in 2013 with a discover scuba class at Grand Cayman Island, and then came home and signed up for the open water certification. In 2015 he joined the Gamber and Community Fire Department's dive team. In 2016 he became the training coordinator for the team, and completed his SSI Dive Control Specialist certification.
His diving adventures have been from warm places like Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Bonaire, and the Florida Keys, to Cold places including the continental divide in Silfra Iceland, and Boston. Also, he has dove all over MD from the shore to the Bay, and most of the lakes in Carroll County (and a couple of storm water retention ponds...)
Pam Janocha - Assistant Instructor
Bio and image coming soon.
Lee Miller - Instructor
Lee's diving experience started when he was certified by SSI in 2012 before a family trip to Turks and Caicos. He was hooked at the very first pool training session and has tried to be underwater as often as possible ever since. He has been to fresh water quarries and lakes in MD, VA and TN. His local salt water dives include Ocean City. MD and megladon shark tooth diving out of North Carolina. Additionally he has been lucky enough to incorporate scuba in to his travels in Greece and many of the Caribbean islands!
Lee's favorite parenting moment was at an aquarium when his son said that he had seen so many of the fish "for real" while diving that it wasn't all that interesting. Lee hopes to be able to help others have that same experience!!!