Sophie Gaze was born in England, but has lived in Florida for the majority of her life. She is a junior at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, majoring in journalism. Sophie volunteers at the Humane Society during the summer. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading and doing anything adventurous. She has a passion for the ocean and is a certified PADI scuba instructor. After graduation, Sophie hopes to write for a science or scuba diving magazine and teach scuba diving on the side. She would also like to focus her efforts on working at animal shelters, campaigning against animal cruelty and working with organizations to promote shark preservation.