Students to Study Climate Change in Voyage through Hawaiian Islands

For Immediate Release - Woods Hole, MA

This winter, undergraduates from colleges and universities around the country are sailing the waters of the Hawaiian Islands aboard a tall ship ocean research vessel to develop a first-hand understanding of the interaction of oceans and climate in an area of dynamic ocean circulation that shapes global weather.

The students are enrolled in The Global Ocean: Hawai’i, a shore and sea-based program offered by Sea Education Association. They arrived at SEA’s Woods Hole campus on January 3^rd for six weeks of preparatory coursework before beginning the sea component on February 16^th in Honolulu, Hawaii, where they will board the SSV Robert C. Seamans, SEA’s state-of-the-art 134-foot brigantine.

While on campus, the students followed SEA’s strict protocols to form a Covid-free bubble prior to travelling to Honolulu. The ship will serve as the students’ home, classroom, and laboratory for more than five weeks as they sail through the Hawaiian Islands. The program ends in Honolulu on March 26th. There will be no port stops.

All students are full working members of the ship’s crew, sharing responsibilities for standing watch, processing oceanographic samples, navigating by the stars, and participating in round-the-clock operations. Perhaps most importantly, students learn to challenge themselves and cultivate new skills in leadership, teamwork, and field research.

In addition to gaining practical skills in seamanship, students will gain valuable climate leadership and communication skills through coursework, field research, and digital storytelling, and will contribute to long-term data sets.

The Global Ocean program will next be offered in Fall 2022.

• Track the voyage on the SEA Currents blog through March 26th.
• Download photos and access more information about SEA through our online press kit.

About Sea Education Association (SEA)
Sea Education Association (SEA) is an internationally recognized leader in undergraduate, gap year, and high school ocean education. For 50 years and more than one million nautical miles sailed, SEA has educated students about the world’s oceans through its Boston University accredited study abroad program. SEA is based on Cape Cod in the oceanographic research community of Woods Hole, Massachusetts and has two research vessels: the SSV Corwith Cramer, operating in the Atlantic Ocean, and the SSV Robert C. Seamans, operating in the Pacific. In 2016, SEA was honored with the National Science Board’s Public Service Award for its role in promoting the public understanding of science and engineering. Last year, the National Maritime Historical Society presented Sea Education Association with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Maritime Education.

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

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