SEA Semester | Study Abroad with SEA Semester: Ocean Science & Sailing Program - Nautical, Maritime, & Oceanography Studies

Current SEA News

SEA Receives Grant from the Davis Educational Foundation

May 4th, 2012

A grant awarded by the Davis Educational Foundation will support the project Enhancing a multidisciplinary curriculum with innovative cross disciplinary teaching. This project aims to develop a new cadre of teaching materials that cross SEA’s core disciplines of oceanography, nautical science and maritime studies and set the framework for future scientists, educators and policy makers to adeptly engage in interdisciplinary and collaborative problem solving.

The grant was received from the Davis Educational Foundation established by Stanton and Elizabeth Davis after Mr. Davis’s retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc.

Over the next two years, the $66,556 grant will support:

Creation of teaching modules for the classic program, SEA Semester: Ocean Exploration, that will excite students to learn about the marine environment by placing it in the context of important societal issues.
Engagement of all faculty through a workshop to generate essential concepts an skills, areas of overlap and potential module topics.
Creation of at least 10 innovative, dynamic modules by project leaders.
Implementation of the modules and convening of a “Best Practices Symposium” to share experiences related to their use.

SEA Oceanography Faculty, Drs. Amy Siuda (appointed 2007), Jeff Schell (appointed 2003) and Deb Goodwin (appointed 2010), will be responsible for project leadership and implementation.

Wind pushes plastics deeper into oceans, driving trash estimates up

April 25, 2012

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON - While working on a research sailboat gliding over glassy seas in the Pacific Ocean, oceanographer Giora Proskurowski noticed something new: The water was littered with confetti-size pieces of plastic debris, until the moment the wind picked up and most of the particles disappeared.

After taking samples of water at a depth of 16 feet (5 meters), Proskurowski, a researcher at the University of Washington, discovered that wind was pushing the lightweight plastic particles below the surface. That meant that decades of research into how much plastic litters the ocean, conducted by skimming only the surface, may in some cases vastly underestimate the true amount of plastic debris in the oceans, Proskurowski said.

Reporting in Geophysical Research Letters this month, Proskurowski and co-lead author Tobias Kukulka, University of Delaware, said that data collected from just the surface of the water commonly underestimates the total amount of plastic in the water by an average factor of 2.5.

In high winds the volume of plastic could be underestimated by a factor of 27.

Massachusetts ocean planning turns political

October 5, 2011

WASHINGTON — The president of the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole brought his expertise on the seas to Capitol Hill Tuesday to support the National Ocean Policy.

John Bullard spoke before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources Tuesday, basing his testimony on his experience in assisting the state draft the Massachusetts Ocean Plan in 2010.

He said the ocean will be looked at in the future for critical new services — such as wind energy — while traditional uses such as commercial fishing continue.

"We in New England, like other parts of the country, are reliant on our coasts and oceans for jobs, recreation and the very fabric of our coastal communities," Bullard said.

"Ocean planning "» is a sensible approach that will enable new and existing uses to thrive together," he said.

SEA Faculty Receive NSF Grant for Biodiversity and Conservation Policy Research

A group of SEA faculty and collaborators have just received a substantial National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education, Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM (TUES) program grant for their project Biodiversity in the global ocean - incorporating molecular biology in field-based approaches to undergraduate studies of marine conservation. This project aims to improve the effectiveness of undergraduate teaching and learning in science through a new problem/project-based, field-intensive curriculum that integrates scientific research with its application in the construction of public policy.

Over the next two years, the $200,000 grant will support:

SEA faculty during curriculum development for the inaugural SEA Semester: Marine Biodiversity & Conservation.
Teaching and research collaborations with outside experts in the fields of marine biodiversity and conservation
A teaching assistantship for an SEA Assistant Scientist
Expansion of SEA's research capabilities through the purchase of new laboratory equipment for molecular analyses
Dissemination of project outcomes at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals

The project team includes Drs. Amy Siuda, Erik Zettler, and John Jensen (SEA); Dr. Caleb McClennen (Wildlife Conservation Society, Director of Marine Programs, SEA class W-144); and Dr. Linda Amaral-Zettler (MBL).

SEA Semester: Marine Biodiversity & Conservation will be offered for the first time in Spring 2012. During the program, Dr. Dan Distel of Ocean Genome Legacy (OGL; Ipswich, MA) will conduct a 2-day Molecular Analysis Workshop for faculty and students. Additionally, OGL will barcode and archive samples from the students' Caribbean to Woods Hole research voyage. External evaluation of the project/curriculum success will be conducted by Dr. Jim McDonald (Central Michigan University).

To request information on Marine Biodiversity & Conservation, or any of SEA's programs, click here.

SEA Featured On Channel One News

Channel One News, the leading television news network for young people nationwide, profiled SEA's plastics research voyage in their series "Our Disposable Lives". Watch now

Crew of disabled sailboat rescued 900 miles southeast of Hilo

Crew and Students of the Robert C. Seamans come to aid of vessel in distress

HONOLULU – The Coast Guard and the crew of a good Samaritan vessel assisted the crew of a sailboat 900 miles southeast of Hilo Friday after the ship's sails frayed and fuel began to run low.

Coast Guard search and rescue watchstanders from the Honolulu's Joint Rescue Coordination Center received a distress call at 7:40 a.m. Friday via satellite phone from the captain of the 43-foot sailboat Kehaulani. The 66 year-old captain and a 63 year-old woman were the only crew aboard the sailboat. Read More...

SEA Semester Alumnus Nominated for Position of Chief Scientist at NOAA

White House Press Release
August 4, 2010

WASHINGTON - Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

Scott Doney, Chief Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce (note: SEA Semester alumnus)
Nancy E. Lindborg, Assistant Administrator, Democracy Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Bureau, USAID
Kevin Nealer, Member, Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Chase T. Rogers, Member, State Justice Institute
Wilfredo Martinez, Member, State Justice Institute

President Obama said, "Our nation will be well served by the talent and expertise these individuals will bring to their new roles. I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead."

SEA Research Published in the Journal Science

Despite growing awareness of the problem of plastic pollution in the world's oceans, little solid scientific information existed to illustrate the nature and scope of the issue. This week, a team of researchers from Sea Education Association (SEA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the University of Hawaii (UH) published a study of plastic marine debris based on data collected over 22 years by SEA undergraduate students in the latest issue of the journal Science.

A previously undefined expanse of the western North Atlantic has been found to contain high concentrations of plastic debris, comparable to those observed in the region of the Pacific commonly referred to as the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch".

More than 64,000 individual plastic pieces were collected at 6100 locations that were sampled yearly over the course of the study. A surface plankton net was used to collect plastic debris as well as biological organisms at each station. The highest concentrations of plastic were observed in a region centered at 32°N (roughly the latitude of Atlanta, GA) and extending from 22-38°N latitude. Numerical model simulations by Nikolai Maximenko (UH) explain why surface currents cause the plastic to accumulate in this region.