February 3, 2022

Research and Teaching Go Hand-in-Hand

SEA recently welcomed Dr. Sarah Kingston to its faculty as assistant professor of oceanography. Sarah begins her SEA career teaching students in the Marine Biodiversity and Conservation program (MBC).

Sarah’s background has prepared her well for the curriculum at SEA.  A marine molecular ecologist, Sarah majored in History at the College of William and Mary before getting her Master’s in Marine Biology at the College of Charleston. She earned her PhD in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics from the University of Maryland.

Following that, Sarah did post-doctoral work at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and gained valuable teaching experience at Schiller Coastal Studies Center at Bowdoin College. She then did research and taught at the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences and UC Santa Cruz before landing at SEA.

Of her past work experience, Sarah said, “I got a lot of teaching experience and also got students involved in research.”

Her primary interest is studying marine organisms using molecular tools, like DNA, which makes her a great fit for SEA’s MBC program, which starts in February 2022.

Sarah said she looks forward to going to sea aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer, and said she was attracted to SEA because it gives her – and her students – the opportunity to visit interesting ocean ecosystems for the first time.

“It’s a really great opportunity to see some unique critters,” she said.

After a long period of relative isolation during the Covid pandemic, Sarah also said she’s excited to be rejoining a research team environment.

“The community building is just as important as the science in terms of teaching life skills,” observed Sarah, who’s a big fan of experiential education.

“I really try to keep the research side and the teaching side linked. It’s really beneficial to the students. Science allows students to learn critical thinking skills, and through research, they learn how to connect with nature even if they don’t end up in a science career,” she said.

Welcome aboard Sarah!

Contact: Douglas Karlson, Director of Communications | 508-444-1918 | dkarlson@sea.edu | www.sea.edu

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