Nursing student awarded prestigious diving scholarship

Lucy Penny has been chosen as the 2023 European Scholar of the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society
Lucy Penny has been chosen as the 2023 European Scholar of the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society
A University of Plymouth student has won a prestigious international scholarship through which she plans to learn more about diving medicine, especially on expeditions, and to reconnect younger generations with the ocean.
Lucy Penny, who is just finishing the second year of a MNurs (Hons) Nursing (Adult Health and Child Health) degree, has been chosen as the 2023 European Scholar of the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society (OWUSS).
The year-long scholarship, sponsored by ROLEX, will enable Lucy to travel to various locations across the world and she is currently attending a series of events hosted by the Explorers’ Club in New York as part of World Oceans Week.
Through all of her travels, and conversations with those she meets on the way, she hopes to gain a better understanding of dive medicine and the mental and physical benefits diving can provide.
Lucy first dived when she was 18, but before this enjoyed swimming and snorkelling around the South West coastline.
She has since dived in somewhat clearer waters, including in Indonesia and New Zealand, and completed her professional HSE SCUBA Diving qualifications with the University.
She has also worked as a medical technician, assessing the fitness of people working in a number of offshore industries, and is excited about the prospect of combining two of her main passions over the coming year.
Lucy is one of the first people from a health background to be awarded the OWUSS scholarship. She said:
“Diving in Plymouth’s seagrass beds and kelp forests opened my eyes to a new world, connected me with a community of like-minded people and inspired me to develop as a person. I am excited for a year of adventure and education as the 2023 OWUSS European Scholar. I feel incredibly privileged to be an OWUSS scholar, learn from ocean experts and enthusiasts, and integrate further into a community that cares not only for the ocean but for the people that work there.”
Lucy Penny
Lucy is one of three young people across the world to be awarded a scholarship – the others being from Australasia and North America.
She is the second student from the University to receive the accolade in recent years, after Mae Dorricott was named the OWUSS European Scholar in 2017 .
Mr Charles Sandercock , Scientific Diving Manager at the University, added:
“The University of Plymouth is unique in offering students – primarily from the School of Biological and Marine Sciences – the chance to complete a professional diving qualification alongside their studies. Numbers are limited, but the intensive courses enable students to complement what they’re learning with practical experience that they can use in the careers. It has been amazing to support Lucy on her diving journey so far, and we are looking forward to seeing how this scholarship can benefit her – and those she will work with – over the coming months.”
Lucy Penny
Lucy Penny
Lucy Penny
Lucy Penny

HSE Professional SCUBA diving course

Plymouth is unique in offering our students the opportunity to gain the HSE Professional SCUBA certification alongside their degree. The course is an intensive four week full-time programme designed to prepare candidates for undertaking media, scientific and archaeological diving projects. If you are looking to do any underwater work in the UK and be paid, you will require a HSE qualification. The Professional SCUBA course is the minimum requirement if you wish to work on scientific, archaeological or media diving projects. Please note that places on the course are offered subject to availability.
Diving in Plymouth Sound

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