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Robert S. Cogen is a naturalist and an attorney.

Born: 1935 in Los Angeles, California

Robert, as a young boy, was intensely interested in both the desert and the ocean. As a budding naturalist, he collected reptiles and mammals from the deserts and mountains of the Southwest U.S. and Mexico and traded them to zoos and parks worldwide in return for exotic specimens. Robert began SCUBA diving, or skin diving as it was then called, in 1948, in the great kelp forests of the Pacific. Later, during his undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California, he formed the Skindiving Club and taught SCUBA. He trained in desert ecology and obtained his B.S. in Zoology with minors in Chemistry and Philosophy in 1957.

On the advice of an instructor, he entered the U.S.C. Law School from which he graduated Juris Doctor in 1960. He was admitted to practice in January, 1961. Robert had a very active courtroom practice centered about the legal aspects of the sciences and medicine. During this period, Robert and Dick Mangum represented the Navajo nation in its fight for religious freedom. Robert, on occasion, taught at U.C.L.A., and other universities where he lectured on various aspects of the forensic sciences.

In 1975 Robert and his wife, Christine, moved to Northern California, where many of Robertís cases involved botany, chemistry and medicine. In 1983 Robert began diving in Thailand, and in 1984 he was among the first to dive the Similan Islands. In 1984 Christine began diving and they have enjoyed it together ever since. From 1984 until 1996 he assisted David Walker, a NAUI instructor, teaching SCUBA in Northern California and the Caribbean. He and David founded In Depth Adventures and began leading groups to Thailand, and the Caribbean, diving and trekking in 1985. They soon expanded to include Indonesia and the islands of the Southwest Pacific. During the next ten years he annually dove more in Thailand than anywhere else.

Robert retired from active practice of law in 1996 and he and Christine moved to Phuket. That same year Robert became a PADI diving instructor. David elected to stay in the U.S. and Robert brought his concept to Thailand where he, Christine and Anne Miller incorporated In Depth Adventures.

In February, 1997, the first tourists were allowed to visit the Mergui Archipelago. Robert, as a guest of Southeast Asia Liveaboards, was on that trip. Since then, he has made many trips to the Mergui, increasing his knowledge of the plants and animals on the islands as well as in the sea. He was asked to write a column describing his adventure there for the Phuket Gazette, which resulted in his writing a monthly environmental column, examples of which are on the Publications Page.

Robert is a REEF-WORLD Instructor. He has participated in international coral reef workshops, and currently acts as joint National Coordinator for Reef Check in Thailand.

Robert began trekking in Northern Thailand in 1983. He has covered many of the routes near the Burmese border. Besides the standard trekking routes and dates, he is always ready to put together more exotic treks into infrequently visited areas. "I love walking through the quiet forest and riding elephants high above the underbrush," he says. "There is so much to see!"

Robert loves combining adventure and biology. "When I first began diving in Southeast Asia I didnít know what I was looking at. It was all beautiful, but I wanted to understand it, too. I think most people feel the same way. It is so easy for everyone to understand; I enjoy their excitement when they figure out what they are watching on the reef, the beach or in the forest."

Robert is also an artist; he has drawn and painted scenes from nature all of his life. He maintains a journal-sketchbook in which he records his impressions in words and sketches of every adventure. In1978 he began making stained-glass windows and lamps. He has a studio in Eureka, California where he co-teaches art in the summertime with his daughter, Amy. He has recently opened a stained glass studio in Phuket where he makes one-of-a-kind art projects. During the Summer, Christine and Robert spend their time in the U.S. and Canada visiting friends and family.

Enjoy Robert's Journal