Sailors for the Sea’s first Onboard Reporter.

Hello! My name is Aiden Ford and I am Sailors for the Sea’s Onboard Reporter for the spring 2016 semester while I am studying aboard Sea Education Association’s tall ship Corwith Cramer.

I am an undergraduate at College of the Atlantic, where I am working toward a bachelor’s degree in Human Ecology and Secondary Science Education. This winter, I am proud to be a member of SEA Semester: Colonization to Conservation in the Caribbean program at Sea Education Association (SEA). In just under one week, my class and I will fly to St. Croix to meet up with the SSV Corwith Cramer and begin our exploration of history, culture, and environmental issues in several different Caribbean Islands, including Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and St. John.

I am from the coast of Maine, and though I will miss the snow-covered landscape of northern New England, I cannot wait to be in waters warmer than the typical 65-degree water we get even in the summer. I am also excited to study with a community of people dedicated to healing the sick ocean we sail in today. In the summers of my high school years, I crewed on a magnificent historical schooner in Penobscot Bay. While I was around sailors who dedicated themselves to the majesty of the marine environment, I also crossed paths with harmful practices regarding the disposal of discarded resources. It is because of these experiences, both my love of the sea fostered through my time sailing tall ships and exposure to unsustainable treatment of the ocean that motivated me to study human ecology and science education.

My goal as the Sailors for the Sea Onboard Reporter during this voyage is to shed some light about the current health of the Caribbean Sea as well as provide ideas on how we can improve our practices as boaters. I will be focusing on the history of education throughout the Caribbean islands. I am always curious as to how people learn in all areas of the world. I am also going to be focusing on waste management practices in the Caribbean. Some questions I hope to answer are what materials are being discarded? How much recycling is done and in what ways? And how much awareness and education about waste is circulated? I am excited to get to work, and I can’t wait to sail the Caribbean!

Stay tuned for more updates from our Onboard Reporter, Aiden!

In collaboration with Sea Education Association (SEA), Sailors for the Sea is offering an award for a SEA Semester student to become an Onboard Reporter. SEA is an internationally recognized leader in undergraduate ocean education through their study abroad program. As a recipient of the new Sailors for the Sea Onboard Reporter award, Aiden Ford is chronicling ocean health issues observed during her voyage aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer, one of SEA’s tall sailing ship research vessels. Aiden is a College of the Atlantic student currently studying off campus with SEA Semester’s Colonization to Conservation in the Caribbean program in spring term 2016. This program gives undergraduates of all majors the opportunity to investigate and compare sustainability issues across several multifaceted Caribbean islands, including Cuba. 

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