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Paula Selby MN ‘18
Vice Chair Membership
Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Paula first fell in love with the ocean at age 12, after seeing a coral reef for the first time during a family vacation in Jamaica. A few years later, she joined her mother and father who enrolled in a scuba diving course in 1969, a time when recreational scuba certification agencies were still evolving from their military origins. There were not many women involved in the sport at the time, but Paula was totally hooked! Paula was certified as a diving instructor in 1973, and managed a family dive operation in Columbus, Ohio before heading to the ocean to manage diving resorts in the Florida Keys, Bahamas and Virgin Islands, including a private island resort and wildlife sanctuary in the British Virgin Islands.
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Throughout her diving career, she crossed paths with many of the sport's pioneers and filmmakers. She received her first instruction in underwater photography by then publisher of Skin Diver Magazine, Paul Tzimoulis, and began shooting with a Nikonos II amphibious camera. She eventually converted her camera system to a housed SLR Nikon film camera, and more recently to a housed digital Nikon D810 camera. After switching her film camera to digital in 2004, Paula enrolled in a Graphic Design program at UCSD Extension to learn how to use Photoshop and other digital design software. She has since used both her photographic and graphic art skills to support non-profit organizations she volunteers for, including logo and t-shirt designs, donor plaques and other promotional materials. She left the Caribbean and moved to San Diego in 1988, where she obtained employment and currently works as a Senior Procurement Manager with healthcare giant, Kaiser Permanente.
In 1991, Paula began traveling around the world with Stephen Frink’s tour company, Waterhouse Photo Tours. She is also active in the local and International open water swimming community, serving on the board of the La Jolla Cove Swim Club for 20 years, and the board of the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation (CCSF) since 2008. CCSF sanctions marathon and relay swims across the Catalina Channel, and was inducted as a sanctioning organization in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2011. Since 2000, Paula has organized cultural and nature tours for her fellow swimmers to various destinations around the world, wherever there is a warm body of water to swim in.
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In 2008, Paula met legendary Scripps Oceanographer, Walter Munk, through his wife, Mary, while working on “THE MAP” project in La Jolla’s Kellogg Park. She joined the board of Friends of La Jolla Shores after meeting Mary Munk, where she put her graphic art skills to work for both “THE MAP”, field trip and Fish ID guides, and other park projects, including rendering all of the junior lifeguard-themed illustrations for the park’s playground and signage for the bronze bathymetry. Inspired by the lifelong achievements of Walter Munk, and a desire to carry on his amazing legacy, she joined the board as CFO of the Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans in 2018. She aspires to serve Walter's new foundation in multiple capacities to a greater extent post-retirement to promote its mission of ocean exploration, conservation, education and scientific research.
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