SEA Semester scientist Emily Burke has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 Armin E. Elsaesser III Fellowship Award.  Emily will use her award to explore the rugged coastline of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, described by the National Park Service as a place “where the ice age lingers.” Her proposal is titled “Canvas and Ice: A Sailing Study of Alaska’s Changing Fjords.”

SEA Semester in the NEWS
“Lancaster native studies human impacts on coral reefs”
by Holly N. Lipka, Editor
Lancaster Bee

Coral reefs have existed on earth for millions of years, but many of them may not survive much longer.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, roughly one-quarter of coral reefs worldwide are already considered damaged beyond repair, with another two-thirds under serious threat.

The Woods Hole Partnership Education Program is seeking applicants for its 10-week summer program in 2020. The program is supported by six science institutions in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and recruits talent from all backgrounds but especially from minority groups that are underrepresented in marine and environmental sciences.

SEA Semester in the NEWS
“When We See Whales” - Transcribing Captain Lawrence’s Logbook
By Mia Sigler, S-283
Sea History Magazine, Winter 2019-20

Mia Sigler, a senior at Mount Holyoke and alumna of SEA Semester class S-283, the Global Ocean, has written a detailed account of the research she and her classmates did on the logbook of Falmouth whaleman Capt. Lewis Lawrence.  Mia helped transcribe the logbook, studied an original chart from Lawrence’s 1849 voyage, and she and her class followed portions of Capt. Lawrence’s path in the South Pacific in the fall of 2018.

SEA Semester in the NEWS
ESF Student Participates in SEA Semester
Emily Klimczak conducts research in the Caribbean
SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry News

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) student Emily Klimczak is currently on an ocean research voyage to study human impacts on Caribbean coral reef ecosystems.

With the recent volcanic eruption in New Zealand, we wish to report that all is well aboard the Robert C. Seamans.  The students and crew of class S-289 remain safe aboard the vessel which, though operating near the Bay or Plenty, is well clear of the eruption at White Island.

As his research draws to a close, Jonathan Harris, C-112, winner of the 2019 Armin E. Elsaesser III Fellowship, has posted additional coastal photographs and information on his project website, “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
Work Hard, Get the Job Done, Be Yourself: Jeanne Grasso
USCG Proceedings Magazine
Pioneers & Prodigies edition

Leading maritime lawyer Jeanne Grasso, W-83, credits SEA Semester for influencing her successful legal career.

“When the readers of this edition of Proceedings realize Jeanne Grasso is a lawyer, they will have to fight the urge to flip past and dismiss her as not a ‘real’ mariner. No, Grasso did not graduate from a maritime academy. Nor has she been in command of a ship, but her love affair with all things maritime led her to become one of the United States’ premier maritime lawyers….

Healthy people, healthy ships.  One increasingly complex aspect of our work in student services focuses on health and wellness within the Sea Education Association community.  For decades SEA has managed bumps and bruises, acute infections, chronic medical issues and periodic mental health emergencies on shore and at sea.

SEA Semester in the NEWS
“Tall Ship Experience Helps Student Navigate Her Future”
By Fariss Samarrai
UVA Today

Katherine Webber, a third-year environmental sciences major at the University of Virginia minoring in global sustainability, recently completed a six-week learning adventure aboard a tall ship research vessel, the SSV Robert C. Seamans, in the South Pacific. She conducted field research for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on a newly formed volcanic island, collected ocean data while at sea, and learned about Polynesian culture.