About PIYW
PeerIntoYourWorld, or PIYW in short, was born from an idea to increase public knowledge of underwater life, and by showing it in all its forms, help create more enthusiasm and awareness for everyone interested. We would like you to “peer” or “gaze” beyond your own environment and into a world many haven’t seen before and appreciate the huge variety and special forms of life that exist in our seas and oceans. The marine environment is where life on earth began, according to present day science. It is also the environment where all the existing boundaries become liquid, boundaries between plant and animal (some can really put you off), between male and female (some can be both or change gender) or between colours (it may appear blue, but what happens when you turn on your torch?). It is a very dynamic world with many amazing life forms we would like to share with you. Below you can read more about the people behind PIYW.
We have created an accessible platform where we match uploaded pictures to correct scientific name and information to create a huge and most of all a free database. Our focus is more on collecting as many species as possible rather than getting the best pictures, but naturally better will replace the others in time. Other websites like this exist, but they’re either out-dated, no longer maintained or limited by geography or photographer(s), PIYW is none of the above. Peerintoyourworld is ideal for reviewing, but also great for just browsing pictures. If you have taken pictures when diving or snorkelling but need help identifying them, PIYW can help. Identification is done by visual recognition by us together with a broad network of specialists. When identification on species level is unsure, efforts will be made to identify the picture on other levels in taxonomy. If you feel that an identification has been wrongly made, feel free to inform us and motivate your opinion. Pictures can be uploaded by anyone that creates an account. We offer several “all-rights-reserved” options and creative commons options you can choose from. Your pictures will be reviewed, and complemented by us if necessary. New species and good pictures will be uploaded on the website with the name of the species, the photographer, camera type and a watermark. All contributions are done out of free will, and PIYW will not pay for any material.
• Owner/Director at tour operator Van Aa tot Zet, specialized in round trips and diving travel (www.vanaatotzet.nl)
• Owner/Director at PeerIntoYourWorld
• Course leader at Stichting Onderwaterbiologie
• Owner/Director at Downtek.com, specialized in web development and (online) learning consultancy.
• Owner/Director at PeerIntoYourWorld.
Ever since I can remember I have been fascinated with marine biology, growing up with Jacques Cousteau movies, David Attenborough and documentaries and magazines like National Geograhic. Naturally I chose to study marine biology at the University of Groningen. There I joined a student diving club and fell in love with the sport. Over the first few years I dove all around Europe and got my 2*CMAS instructors certificate and started taking photographs under water. After having worked at a diving tour operator for 5,5 years, I started my own tour operator company together with my younger sister in 2013, specializing in round trips and diving travel (www.vanaatotzet.nl). PeerIntoYourWorld was developed “from scratch” with nothing but our own ideas and enthusiasm together with my diving buddy and good friend Ciske Boele. Learning by trial and error we managed to launch the website in 2014.
My motivation for starting PIYW was the pleasure in informing divers about marine life. I did this during my time at Stichting Onderwaterbiologie and later on with my clients that had been on dive holidays all over the world. I have now found a way to enjoy my hobby in a constructive way.
My goal is to build PeerIntoYourWorld into the biggest and a very interactive gateway of information for everyone interested. We hope to inspire many people to share their pictures and help build it even further. In time we will add a forum and webshop and organize guided dive travel to dive locations around the world to show participants in real life what we talk about on the website. Come and join us!
As a child of two diving parents, I started diving at the age of twelve.
The reason to go diving was my interest in nature above the waterline and after the first dive the underwater caught my fascination as well.
Ever since, each dive is a new discovery in the magical underwater world.
Over the years I followed the necessary courses and now hold a 2 * CMAS Instructor license and a WOSD level 2 instructor license.
It is always nice to accompany people on their first dive in open water and see them explore and enjoy the marine environment.
During my time as course leader at the Underwater Biology Foundation (Stichting Onderwaterbiologie) I shared my knowledge about marine life.
My daily work consists of transferring knowledge within the Telecom sector as a trainer and developing online applications within my own company Downtek.
The project PIYW brings the best of these both worlds together. PIYW for me is gathering and sharing information about the underwater world with the use of web technologies and sharing them with an international audience.
PIYW uses many different information resources such as websites, books and personal expertise. You can view these resources at the references list.
