Meet Our Team
Hi! We are Danny & Jimmi Yarbrough, owners of Diver's Oasis.
Danny has been diving since he was 15 years old. For those of you that know him: that is over 50 years of diving experience! He feels very fortunate that his wife Jimmi enjoys diving as much as he does, as she has been diving for over 18 years herself. We loved the sport so much, we both became dive instructors so we would be able to share the experience with others. We are the parents to 5 children, 4 of whom enjoy diving. We also have 14 grandchildren who are starting to love the water too! Once again we are very blessed and fortunate! You can find us most weekends from April to November on Bull Shoals Lake where the water is beautiful and clear. If we aren't teaching classes we are spearfishing or just enjoying the lake.
In 2011 we purchased Steve's Scuba from Steve and Millie Walls (hence the original name, Steve's Scuba) who started the business 26 years earlier. This business is now 40 years old and growing! It was time for us to rename Steve's Scuba and start our own chapter as Diver's Oasis.
Our goal is to be the BEST PADI Dive Center in Springfield Missouri. In order to do this we have staffed our store with a courteous, knowledgeable, helpful and professionally trained crew. We have stocked our store with the best dive equipment available and priced ourselves to compete with internet sellers.
Come in and see the difference that over 110 years of combined dive experience will make!
Kodie Poyneer
Kodie grown up diving. She started diving when she was around 10 years old and just fell in love with the underwater world.
Kodie has been working her way up the diving ladder. She became a Dive Master in 2018 and as of 2020 she became an instructor for Diver's Oasis! In 2022 she received her IDC Staff Instructor. You will also see her at the front desk or talk to her on the phone as well.
Bryan Bodnar
Bryan has been diving since 2012 and teaching since 2020. He is currently an IDC Staff Instructor where he can assist with teaching the Instructor Development Course or teach Assistant Instructors in addition to open water, advanced open water, rescue and divemaster courses. In addition, he can teach any of the following specialties: self-reliant, underwater navigation, search and recovery, wreck, enriched air, emergency oxygen provider, diver propulsion vehicle, boat, digital underwater photography, peak performance buoyancy, AWARE coral reef conservation, and EFR. Bryan mostly enjoys diving the warm, clear waters of the Caribbean but can also be found in the local lakes.
Jerry Vanarsdall
Jerry Vanarsdall is a Training and Implementation Specialist for a software company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, but he was born and raised in the Ozarks and is deeply embedded in the Springfield Community. In addition to his work, Jerry is passionate about his family, church, volunteering, and exploring warm tropical destinations like Grand Cayman, St Croix, St Thomas, St John, Aruba, Turks and Caicos, and Hawaii.
Jerry is a Certified Divemaster, Certified Firefighter, and Emergency First Responder, and he holds several endorsements as a certified ASE Class 8 diesel mechanic. His love for diving began when he took his Discover Scuba Diving Experience in St Croix. During the open water dive, he saw a coral farm, a small stingray, and a shark, and he was hooked. Jerry has since earned Open Water, Advanced Open Water, and Rescue Diver certifications, and he is currently working on his instructor certification.
With his extensive training and certifications, Jerry has the skillset to teach diving and is committed to sharing his passion for the sport with others. He believes that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the beauty and excitement that can be found beneath the surface of the water, and he is dedicated to making that happen.
Carl Schober
I took my first breath underwater in Cozumel Mexico in 2004. I went to Chankanaab Park, and I was walking by the palapas where guys were renting snorkel and scuba gear, and a young man (Gilmer) raised his arm and said, “Try Scuba”. I told him that’s why I’m here! He gave me a quick rundown of the gear and how to do a few skills and off we went to the ocean. We walked across the beach and down a wide staircase into the water and put just our faces in to look around and try a few practice breaths. I was immediately hooked! He led me around for about 40 minutes in 20-25 feet of water. I was amazed at the vibrant colors, beautiful fish, and how clear it was. As soon as we surfaced, I couldn’t stop talking about how awesome that dive was.
Upon returning to the US, I searched and found Steve’s Scuba and took an Open Water course. I spent every weekend at different lakes diving as much as I could. In 2005 I went back to see Gilmer in Cozumel for my Advanced Open Water course. In 2006 I returned to Cozumel and Gilmer did my Rescue Diver training. I continued to spend as much time as I could underwater, mainly in Cozumel, and eventually got into spearfishing and night diving.
I dove off and on over the following years and in 2023 after a trip to Cozumel to see my friend Gilmer, I decided to become a PADI professional and learn to teach scuba. I just kept thinking of that feeling I had when I took my first breath underwater and wanted to share that experience with as many people as I can. The choice of who to go through for instructor training was obvious since Divers Oasis originated from Steve’s Scuba, where I was open water certified. I now have 20 years of experience in diving and helping other divers. I enjoy teaching and watching students develop their skills to become good divers. My favorite comment so far was by a 10-year-old on his Bubblemaker birthday party. I asked him how he liked scuba and he said, “This was the most EPIC Birthday ever!”
When I’m not in the water, I like to camp, kayak, hike, golf, and spend time travelling with my wife. Future plans are to build a house in Cozumel and continue teaching there.
Sherri Mills
Sherri became a Divemaster in 2016. She is a Licensed Practical Nurse and an Emergency First Response Instructor. She also is one of our event planners, one of the Dive Club coordinators and is shore support at most of the Open Water weekends. "I love to put the fun into learning scuba, CPR or first aid! But look out, I'm super competitive about Spearfishing for Walleye!"
Jeff Rook
Jeff became a PADI Master Scuba diver trainer for Diver’s Oasis in 2018 with a variety of specialty instructor accreditations. He has been a certified Master Equipment Service Technician since 2001 and is certified on a most scuba Equipment brands.
Jeff was certified with NASDS in 1993 doing his open waters in Cozumel, this being his first introduction to diving in the ocean. He later returned to Cozumel 27 more times as an instructor and trip host. Jeff became a local SSI Dive Control Specialist Instructor in 2001 training divers. In 2014 he joined the Diver’s Oasis (Steve’s Scuba) family where he received his PADI instructor certifications in 2018. Jeff has hosted trips diving locally, numerous destinations in the Caribbean with his Pacific destinations consisting of Fiji and LaPaz.
Kathy Glaser
Like many of you, scuba diving is something "I always wanted to do." I love clear blue water and white sandy beaches, so why not combine the two with scuba?
I learned to dive in 1996 and continued on to become an instructor in 2000. There is nothing better than to see the joy on a person's face when they breathe underwater for the first time! I joined Steve's Scuba in 2014 and became a PADI instructor that August. I am exited to be now a part of the new chapter Diver's Oasis. I love to travel and take underwater photos and to share the adventure of diving with others.