By LINDA CHION KENNEY
To say teenager John R.F. Humphreys of Riverview is an overachiever is not a stretch, not when you consider his accomplishments to date and his drive to raise $60,000 to travel to Antarctica to collect baseline data for research in climate change and invasive species.
Humphreys is not your run-of-the-mill teenager, given that at age 15 he already has achieved Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America. A Scout must complete all requirements for the Eagle Scout rank prior to turning age 18.
John R.F. Humphreys of Riverview is confirmed to dive with Blue Expeditions in Antarctica.
Now, Humphreys is set on achieving a most ambitious goal, one that he hopes takes him one step closer to realizing his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut. More specifically, his goal is to launch into space as a mission commander, specializing in Mars exploration and colonization.
“I’ve wanted to be an astronaut for as long as I wanted to be something,” Humphreys said, noting the impact of a trip as a toddler with his parents to the Kennedy Space Center, where he saw a shuttle launch and met former astronauts.
His interest in space has never faltered, as Humphreys, through homeschooling and participation in scouting (Troop 109 out of Valrico), SCUBAnauts and two 4-H clubs (Raise the Bar and On Target) continues his quest for applicable skills and knowledge.
With his career objective in mind, Humphreys put forth a MasterNaut project through the Tampa Bay chapter of SCUBAnauts International, a marine science education program founded by Captain David Olson in Palm Harbor in 2001.
Previously known as SCUBA Scouts USA, the program aims to introduce young men and women, ages 12 to 18, to informal science education through underwater exploration.
To achieve the distinguished MasterNaut rank, SCUBAnauts must achieve advanced, rescue and nitrox certifications; conduct more than 100 lifetime dives, including at least 60 scientific dives; perform more than 150 community service dives; and complete a large-scale conservation or research project.
Toward that end, with connections to scientists he made through SCUBAnauts, Humphreys said he learned of a “once-in-a-lifetime citizen scientific expedition that commemorates the 150th anniversary of the HMS Challenger’s crossing of the southern polar circle.”
Through Blue Green Expeditions, Humphreys will join citizens, scientists and imagemakers to honor the legacy of the 1872-76 HMS Challenger Expedition. According to Blue Green organizers, “It was the first expedition organized specifically to gather data on a wide range of ocean features, including ocean temperatures, seawater chemistry, currents, marine life and the geology of the seafloor.”
Humphreys said he will do his part to further the research base, with a MasterNauts project that involves diving, gathering and conducting benthic roaming video surveys, photographic data, plankton tows and samples of jellyfish and microplastics, all of which he will analyze aboard the motor vessel Ortelius.
John R.F. Humphreys, 15, is raising funds to explore the waters of Antarctica.
As the southernmost continent and site of the South Pole, Antarctica is a virtually uninhabited, ice-covered landmass. As Humphreys put it, “Antarctica is the place on earth that is most similar to Mars, due to its really extreme environment.”
Humphreys said he is set to dive in unexplored areas, with hopes of “finding new creatures and new species of plankton and discovering things about our world, including how climate change, caused by heat, is affecting coral life.”
Pressing now is to raise the $60,000 necessary to take the trip, which Humphreys learned Nov. 7 he was confirmed to take.
His immediate goal is “to jump through all the hoops in order to make it happen,” he said.
Nicole Humphreys Photos
John R.F. Humphreys of Riverview is a member of SCUBAnauts of Tampa Bay.
Plans are to leave Feb. 16 and return March 6, including travel days and a pre-dive trip to Argentina, where Humphreys is set to dive to ensure his gear is good to go. In the meantime, “he’s been working on getting dry suit certified and has been checked off by two different dive instructors on his skills and abilities,” said Humphreys’ mother, Nicole.
She said her son researched a budget “and confirmed the budget with folks who have done this before, to make sure everything he needed was accounted for.” Moreover, she added, her son drafted proposals for sponsors and created a GoFundMe page, as well as a one-pager to explain his MasterNauts project.
“When he started all this, I said, ‘John, you do understand this is a lot,’ ” Nicole Humphreys said. “He told me, ‘Mom, if 6,000 people give $10 dollars, we’re there.’ ”
In the end, “It takes a village, and John has been a contributing member to a lot of villages,” she added. “He is a good steward. He cares about the environment and people, and he works hard to make sure the world is a better place.”
Visit Humphreys’ GoFundMe page at www.amazingjohnjohn.com/.
