Programs Blog

Date: April 4, 2025

Time: 0900

Location: Lyttelton, Aotearoa New Zealand

Weather: 70˚ F, sunny

Kia Ora from Aotearoa!

We welcomed our students on board Robert C Seamans, alongside in Lyttelton, after their long journey across two hemispheres. A little loopy and a lot sleepy, they endured a brief orientation to the ship, enjoyed All Hands dinner, and caught up on some well-needed rest.

Today, we launched ourselves into forming our shipboard community through orientation training, safety drills, learning boat checks, and a little bit of free time in town on a gorgeous fall afternoon.

Our 34 Souls on Board for this journey from Lyttelton, ANZ to Pape`ete, Tahiti and Mo`orea, PF:
Captain Rick Miller, Captain
Dr. Sarah Kingston, Chief Scientist
Rocky Bonner, Chief Mate
Heather Stone, Second Mate
Jackie O’Malley, Third Mate
Matt Bihrle, First Marine Technician
Katherine Rigney, Second Marine Technician
Izzy Lardner, Third Marine Technician
JC Parker, Chief Engineer
Giacomo McDowell, Assistant Engineer
Raechel Zeller, Steward
Sebastian Murray-Brown, Assistant Steward 
Grace Stein, Program Assistant
Kayla Gardner, Postdoctoral Researcher and Labhand
Ali Fox, Molecular Labhand
Satya Advani, Blue Nature Alliance Scientist
Gus McGuire, Deckhand

Student Mariners:
Georgia Akins, Macalester College, A-watch
Aimee Bousquet, U. New Hampshire, A-watch
Gabi Carttar, Barnard College, C-watch
Patricia Diaz-Bian, Cornell University, A-watch
Britney Durward, Brock University, C-watch
Zachary Flagler, U. of Washington, A-watch
Olivia Hines, U. San Diego, B-watch
Ana Hoffman Sole, Cornell University, A-watch
Elle Lansing, Lafayette College, B-watch
Jaimie Lin, Washington U. in St. Louis, C-watch
Resh Mukherjee, Claremont McKenna College, B-watch
Robin Muse, Boston University, B-watch
Andrew Patterson, Hamilton College, B-watch
Henry Penfold, Bowdoin College, C-watch
Ella Skonieczny, Eckerd College, A-watch
Charlotte Subak, Mount Holyoke College, B-watch
Brigitte Walla, Smith College, C-watch

I am excited to continue to witness this amazing group of people learn and grow. Stay tuned for updates.

Ngā mihi nui,

Dr. Sarah Kingston, Chief Scientist

ps. As on shore in Woods Hole, our students will be blogging about four days a week, but the entries often do not get posted immediately. If you’d like to follow the movement of the ship, please visit our Robert C. Seamans page on our website, linked here: https://sea.edu/explore/sea-ships/. You can check the weather using Windy.com.