Speakers 2026

Gareth Lock, MSc, MCIEHF

The Human Diver

Gareth Lock, MSc, MCIEHF

Gareth founded The Human Diver in January 2016 when he recognised that there was a gap in knowledge within the diving community when it came to human factors and non-technical skills. He decided to do something about it and has made waves ever since.

Gareth spent 25 years in the Royal Air Force as a flight instructor, navigator on C-130 Hercules, systems engineer and a requirements manager. Left the RAF in 2015 and started work in high-risk industries teaching Human Factors and Crew Resource Management (CRM). He is GUE Tech 2 certified and TDI JJ-CCR Mod 1 with around 800 dives and is Looking forward to getting cave certified.

Using his own course/s developed and based on his lived diving experience, has to date taught more than 350 divers face-to-face, presented at nearly 20 conferences around the world and published his first book 'Under Pressure: Diving Deeper with Human Factors' in 2019 which has sold 1000s of copies globally already. He loves his underwater photography and has been published in numerous magazines.

Yana Stashkevich

Technical CCR Diver, Motivational Speaker, Coach

Yana Stashkevich

Experienced technical CCR, cave, mine and wreck diver, Yana is rapidly making a name for herself when it comes to exploration dives". Over the past ten years, she has dived in over 35 destinations across three continents, all while balancing a career as a full-time global marketeer. She was a member of the Vaggfjellan XI expedition exploring the cave system beyond the Arctic Circle and a rebreather diver on the Underwater Filming & Research (UFR) project team documenting some of the world's best-preserved wrecks in Greece last year. More recently she played the key role in a Bikini Atoll wrecks filming project; cave exploration in Iceland, and exploring flooded mines in the UK. Yana has an infectious amount of energy and enthusiasm and is a regular speaker and coach – she is passionate about inspiring people to push their boundaries and pursue their passion, whatever it may be.

www.yanastashkevich.com

Jialing Cai

Underwater Photographer Science Communicator

Jialing Cai

Jialing Cai is a marine biologist, underwater photographer, and science communicator from Chongqing, China. For the past eight years, she has been dedicated to documenting the smallest and most overlooked creatures that drift through the open ocean at night -- plankton. Her work has been featured on National Geographic, BBC News, China Central Television and in 2023 was invited to join the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Falkor (too) expedition.

Jialing holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in Evolutionary Biology from Columbia University, where her research centered on Arctic plankton ecology. By blending scientific expertise with artistic storytelling, she seeks to ignite curiosity and foster a deeper appreciation for the wonders of the deep sea.

She won the prestigious award Ocean Photographer of the Year in 2023 and received the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Award in 2025. She is also selected as this year's NextGen Scholar of the Global Underwater Explorers.