Tough Girl Podcast Christine Dennison - diving and exploring in remote regions from the Arctic Sea to Amazon's Rio Negro. Plus Skiing to the North Pole as part of an all women team!
Christine is half Spanish, born and raised in NYC, she was an only child and traveled from a young age. She has been surrounded by great mentors such as her grandmother, mother and family friends. She has been raised in a multicultural environment by strong women who have empowered her to go after her dreams.
Christine is the co-founder and President of Mad Dog Expeditions an internationally recognised technical scuba diving and exploration company based in NYC. For more than 20 years Christine has been diving and exploring in remote regions of the world. Christine is the first woman to dive and explore beneath the Arctic Sea ice and ice caves of the Canadian High Arctic. Christine is also the first woman to dive the dangerous piranha saturated waters of the Amazon's Rio Negro and its tributaries.
During this podcast, Christine shares more about her background, growing up in NYC and her struggle to get certified to scuba dive (for fun and business) while battling asthma, severe inner ear issues and sea sickness. Although her health issues have always been there, Christine learnt at an early age how to manage them, by working closely with doctors, remaining disciplined and conservative especially when she is in remote locations and working in extreme environments.
Christine is very active in oceanographic and wildlife conservation issues surrounding indigenous peoples. She is a role model for young women everywhere and passes on her expertise by mentoring, lecturing and presenting to student groups throughout the country. Christine is a Fellow of both the Explorers Club in New York and the Royal Geographical Society in London.
Show notes
- Living and growing up in New York City
- How a city girl got into travel and adventure
- Growing up in a multi-cultural family
- Training and leaning how to scuba dive
- Dealing with Asthma as a child and how it impacted her ability to do sports
- The opportunity to start a travel company
- The first expedition - A trip to the Canadian High Arctic
- What it’s like under the water
- Dealing with the cold
- 2010 working on a project to find a US Submarine in the Gulf of Mexico
- Using Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs)
- Discovering history under water
- What is the right thing to do?
- Diving in the Amazon
- Length of expeditions and dealing with weather issues
- Being the only women on teams
- Why you have to be self reliant
- Why the company was called Maddog Expeditions
- Loving huskies dogs
- Skiing to the North Pole as part of an all women team (2015)
- Not knowing anyone before heading out to the North Pole
- Getting competent on skies
- Why women are tough
- Getting injured on the ice and having to keep on going
- Planning to head out to the North Pole in 2020
- How Exploring Women came about
- Why you should go out and do something you never though you could do
- A new book coming in 2020
- Quick Fire Questions
- Quest for knowledge - thirst for adventure
Social Media
Website - www.maddogexpeditions.com
Empowering women, sharing firsthand knowledge, pursuing adventure and creating strong role models
"Quest For Knowledge | Thirst For Adventure”
Instagram: @Exploringwomen