A great experience at SEASCape: SEA Science on the Cape, SEA’s high school summer program in Woods Hole, inspired one recent alumna to share what she learned about plastic pollution in the ocean, and in doing so, to give back to SEA!

On Wednesday, two of SEA Semester’s most recent alumni, Cecilia Howard (Johns Hopkins University) and Andrew Meashaw (SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry), who sailed this spring on the Marine Biodiversity & Conservation Program (C-285), joined their professors, Dr. Kerry Whittaker and Dr. Porter Hoagland, to serve on a panel and make a presentation at a meeting of the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development at the United Nations in New York.

Jonathan Harris, C-112, winner of the 2019 Armin E. Elsaesser III Fellowship, continues his research along the Gulf Coast as part of his project, “Pirates, Blockades and Commerce: an expedition to explore the maritime history, fortifications, and lighthouses of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.”

SEA Semester in the NEWS
Cook Islands News
Tall Ship Call In

Registered in the US, the vessel is dedicated to oceanographic science research –that entails the sampling of seawater and marine life for close study – which teaches people about the ocean and traditional sail training.

The ship is one of two tall ship scientific research vessels operated by the United States-based Sea Education Association (SEA).

Read the full story.

SEA Semester in the NEWS
“Student Experiences Natural Wonders, National Tragedy in New Zealand”
by Phuc Huynh Le ’22
Grinnell College News

Standing watch on a 134-foot-long sailboat from 1 to 7 a.m., Isaac Ferber sighted what appeared to be a fast line of light traveling near the ocean surface off the coast of New Zealand.

“It was cloudy that night. I heard what sounded like something breathing in the water, which is somewhat alarming in the pitch dark,” Ferber says. After scanning the water, he spotted a dolphin maneuvering in such a way as to cause water-suspended bacteria to glow brightly due to fluorescence. He figured they were likely from the Vibrionaceae family of bacteria because he had learned about their fluorescent properties in his classes aboard ship.

Student Researchers Investigate the Microbiome of the Sargasso Sea

In the high seas region of the Sargasso Sea, college researchers pluck samples from the ocean’s twilight zone to study how microbes might affect climate change. On March 30th, undergraduates of Sea Education Association’s Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Program (MBC) boarded the SSV Corwith Cramer, and sailed East from Key West, FL toward the Sargasso Sea, also known as the North Atlantic Gyre. Student researchers Sharla Friend, Mary Noyes and Sarah Stover investigated the microbial biodiversity of the Sargasso Sea’s deep and surface regions, specifically targeting the twilight zone; the region where the sun’s light begins to fade away, sampling communities from as deep as 650m which is about a half mile below the sea’s surface is nearly.

Researchers study the isopod parasite infecting slender Sargassum shrimp

Known as the slender Sargassum shrimp, Latreutes fucorum plays a critical role in the Sargasso Sea ecosystem, but could a common parasite be a threat? Students of SEA’s Marine Biodiversity and Conservation program recently returned from a six-week voyage sailing north through the Atlantic aboard the tall ship ocean research vessel SSV Corwith Cramer.

This one-day symposium is the capstone experience for students from SEA Semester class C-285 Marine Biodiversity & Conservation. The event includes oral presentations of the students’ science, policy and conservation research to a panel of invited experts, and contributes directly to international effort to protect the Sargasso Sea.  Student presentations will be interspersed with related talks given by some of the invited participants. The public is invited to attend. Space is limited.

The seaweed appears as if out of nowhere, vast swaths suddenly blanketing the beaches of Caribbean islands, yet little is known about the many various forms of the Sargassum seaweed.  Student researchers set out to study the genetics of the pervasive weed, a critical building block of the ecologically rich Sargasso Sea, to better understand the role it plays in the dynamic ocean environment.

Partnership Education Program (PEP) in the NEWS

NOAA Fisheries / Northeast Fisheries Science Center
College Students Head to Woods Hole for Summer of Science
Diversity Program Celebrates its 10th Anniversary June 27-29

Sixteen students from colleges and universities around the country will arrive in Woods Hole on June 1 for the summer. All will be members of the 11th class of the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program (PEP), which was started in 2009.

PEP is a project of the Woods Hole Diversity Initiative, founded in 2004 by the six scientific institutions in Woods Hole to attract and retain a more diverse workforce, one that reflects the changing demographics of the nation and the world. This year PEP is also celebrating its 10th anniversary with a workshop and weekend of activities June 27-29.