SEA Semester in the NEWS
THE BRINK, Pioneering Research at BU
“Field Report: What’s It Like to Sample Sea Life in the Remote Pacific”
Video by Devin Hahn

Article and video about Allie Cole, who sailed with S-287, Protecting the Phoenix Islands, during the summer of 2019.

SEA Semester students make discoveries while exploring Earth’s newest island, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai!

Since the formation of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in 2015, NASA has been keenly interested in this landmass as a rare opportunity to examine pathways of land formation and erosion in the time of 21st century remote sensing and scientific technology.

SEA Semester presents an ocean of opportunity! Many of our alums continue their SEA Semester research back on their home campuses – and beyond. Kalina Grabb, who participated in SEA Semester class S-250 while an undergrad at Harvard University, recently returned to SEA as a coral reef specialist and instructor for our Caribbean Reef Expedition program. She is now a Ph.D. student in the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Joint Program, researching reactive oxygen species (ROS) and collaborating on a new submersible research instrument, called the DISCO, which she brought on board for this voyage for students to see in action. ⁣

With nearly 50 years of surface neuston tow data, SEA’s archives offer the unique opportunity to examine biological response to global change. SEA Semester leverages the opportunities presented by its remote, open ocean cruise tracks and repeated annual sampling to build valuable datasets in poorly studied areas of the world.

And the envelopes please…

Congratulations to Katie Hall, S-275, winner of the 2018 SEA Semester Video Contest with her video, “SEA SPICE.”  Second place goes to Johann Vollrath, S-267, and third prize to Alex Merkle-Raymond, C-279.

Highlights from our live chat with NASA astronaut (and former Sea Education Association Assistant Scientist) Ricky Arnold aboard the International Space Station. Among other topics, he reflected upon his experiences with SEA saying, “There’s nothing I’ve done in my life that prepared me better for my experience up here.”

Zoya Buckmire, of St. George’s University in Grenada, talks completing her final academic assignments and Caribbean Reef Expedition’s conclusion in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Gretchen Beehler, of Purdue University, describes snorkeling the coral reefs around Barbuda as part of SEA Semester’s Caribbean Reef Expedition.

Halley Steinmetz, from UMass-Amherst, describes snorkeling the reefs around Montserrat and a tour of the volcano, as part of Caribbean Reef Expedition.