Study Abroad with SEA Semester | Sea Education Association

Sea Education Association (SEA) is a leading non-profit, independent educational institution focused on environmental studies and the world’s oceans.

Founded 45 years ago (in 1971)
Based in the oceanographic research community of Woods Hole, Massachusetts on Cape Cod
One of six scientific research institutions in this vicinity
Full-time faculty in oceanography, history, anthropology, public policy, and nautical science
Dedicated to educating the next generation of ocean scholars, stewards, and leaders

SEA Semester is our flagship academic study abroad program.

Transferable course credit through Boston University, our longstanding school of record
Open to U.S. and international undergraduates of all majors
Variety of semester and summer programs, each addressing a unique ocean-related theme
Global destinations including the Caribbean, Europe, New Zealand, and Polynesia
Nearly 8,000 alumni, spanning many career fields
Field-based research by faculty and students across numerous disciplines.
Two U.S.-flagged tall ship sailing research vessels: the SSV Corwith Cramer in the Atlantic Ocean and the SSV Robert C. Seamans in the Pacific Ocean.

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SEA in the News

Below are highlights from recent news articles featuring SEA Semester. To view more, click here.

SEA’s Dr. Kara Lavender Law to testify on Capitol Hill

Dr. Kara Lavender Law, SEA Research Professor of Oceanography, will testify about ocean plastics pollution before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday, Sept. 26th, beginning at 10 am.

Expedition member reflects on journey to Phoenix Islands Protected Area

SEA in the NEWS
Watching the Phoenix Rise - Debriefing Stage
Nat Geo Open Explorer
By Jacob Jaskiel

For a couple of weeks now, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect upon what we just experienced and accomplished on this wildly successful expedition through the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. Our cohort of 19 students and 15 scientists and crew sailed the Robert C. Seamans over 3,500 nautical miles while contributing to a dataset that now spans five years of oceanographic, biological, and chemical data. We conducted 46 Hydrocasts and 96 plankton net tows.

Enter the SEA Semester Video Contest

Did you shoot awesome video footage while you were at SEA? Then enter the SEA Video Contest! We’re looking for videos, less than 60 seconds in length, that capture what’s special about SEA Semester. The videos can be about anything: our ships, the program you participated in, your shipmates, life at sea, charismatic megafauna, the stars, your favorite port stop… it’s up to you!

Winners will receive prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, plus, of course, everlasting glory.

SSV Corwith Cramer voyage adds new dimension to PEP

Yoana Guzman, a student in the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program (PEP), had never been on - nor even near - the ocean.

“Home to me is mostly desert,” said the Cal State, Chico student who’s pursuing a double major in electrical engineering and physics. “This was my first time near a large body of water.”

It was also the first time that a voyage aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer, operating out of Woods Hole this summer, was incorporated into PEP. During their first week of classes, PEP students boarded the Cramer at Dyers Dock and embarked on a four-day cruise through Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay.

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