The Founders
Michael Jensen — President and COO
Michael is a military veteran with an extensive career in leading and training, both individuals and teams. His 21 years of military service taught him the value of great leadership, commitment and the benefit of continuing education.
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Jensen became open water scuba certified in 2016 and he achieved PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) certification in 2018. This allows him to certify students all the way up to Divemaster. In his commitment to continuing education, he completed side mount training in 2019. Michael is also a trained and experienced salvage diver. Overall, he has completed over 1000 training dives.
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An influential Harvard Business School online program, through Boise State University, boosted his confidence to become a business owner himself. With his combined new found love of the underwater world and the ocean, along with his passion for teaching and educating others, he takes this opportunity to share his passion with the world.
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Michael's experience diving in cold, murky, Idaho reservoirs has prompted him to seek out a more consistent and inviting training environment. As an instructor, the ability to count on the training environment equals priceless risk mitigation and makes it more fun for both the instructor and the student. From a student perspective, being able to see and communicate with the instructor equals an invaluable reduction in anxiety.
Kathryn Love — Vice President
Kathryn (Kat) Love graduated from BSU with a BA in Multidisciplinary Studies and also holds a Primary Montessori Certification from Montana Montessori Teacher Training Institute. She has been teaching as a lead Primary Teacher since 2006 where she was the Curriculum Coordinator, Music Teacher, and Teacher Mentor. Kathryn is currently the Director of Montessori Training.
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Her role in mentoring new teachers is just as important and valued as her role teaching children. As the senior mentor, she shared her expertise and passion with new teachers with a positive and energetic attitude that results in confident and prepared educators.
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Working with young children and their families has helped her build strong interpersonal communication skills that she can utilize within Idaho Underwater. Her attention to detail and creativity is instrumental in bringing Idaho Underwater to life as an engaging, ever changing, dynamic training environment.
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Her love of the ocean and travel was further inspired when she discovered scuba in 2018 and became PADI Advanced Open Water certified. She became a Divemaster in 2022.
Vicky McIntyre — CEO
Vicky started her working career while still in High School at the local bank in Glasgow, Montana. Vicky loved this exposure to computers and went on to Parks Business College in Denver, Colorado and received a degree in computer programming. After several successful positions in programming, she moved into quality assurance management; making sure computer programs worked as designed.
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When smaller, desktop computers came into existence in 1982, Vicky changed careers after obtaining advanced degrees in business administration. She began teaching at several institutions of higher learning in Minnesota, including the Business Computer Information Systems department of St. Cloud State University. She later branched into teaching management classes at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. Her two favorite classes to teach were operations management and economics.
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Ms. McIntyre returned to Idaho in 2006 and pursued elected public service as Ada County Treasurer. In this capacity, she managed the receipt of over $600 million dollars annually and invested over $340 million dollars annually for the taxpayers of Ada County.
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Retiring from the Treasurer’s role in 2019, Ms. McIntyre learned to scuba in 2021. Her immediate goal is to become a Master Diver before the facility opens. These new loves for diving, along with her background in computers and business, have led to the planning and development of a unique and engaging Idaho Underwater adventure. Vicky will use her vast business experience as the Chief Executive Officer for the company. Vicky is the mother of Kathryn.
Idaho Underwater’s goals are to:
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Inspire water enthusiasts through the introduction of a controlled aquatic environment with activities for scuba, snorkeling, and freediving.
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Support the certified diving community through enhanced dive education, travel, and community engagement, along with a controlled training environment.
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Develop all levels of diving through continuing education with multiple agencies and program options.