Executive Summary
Sea Education Association
2002 Workshop Details
The Symposium
Expected Benefits
Organizers
Schedule
Participants

Challenger Bank and Roseway Bank Paper

Island Wake Effect on Regional Current Systems of Islands and Atolls in The Central Pacific Paper

Sea Education Association (SEA) is a private, non-profit educational institution located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Founded in 1971, SEA offers programs in ocean studies using a non-traditional approach that allows students to live, study and work alongside scientists, researchers, scholars and master mariners.

SEA offers a range of academic programs through the year, including full semester programs for college undergraduates, and specialized summer seminar program for K-12 teachers and high school students. The SEA semester from undergraduates lasts 12 weeks and awards 17 undergraduate credits though Boston University. The first six weeks are at the SEA campus in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where classes are taught in oceanography, nautical science and maritime studies. The students spend the second half of the semester on one of the SEA's three research sailing vessels, conducting their own research projects and learning to operate the vessel. The results of the research projects are presented orally and in writing to the faculty, crew and students of the cruise. Understanding of nautical science is tested by requiring each student to take command of the ship's operations for at least one watch at the end of the voyage, including piloting the ship and leading the activities of the other students.

Life at sea is focused on the tight-knit community aboard ship. With virtually no outside distractions, students get to know each other more deeply that is usually possible ashore. The safety of the ship requires students to trust each other and to take responsibility for their own actions. As shipmates, students develop a senseof community in which each person is evaluated based on his or her overall contributions to the group, not on any single criterion such as academic performance or athletic ability. The program fosters teamwork, communication and tolerance, in addition to a commitment to the ocean and its study and conservation.

SEA is steadfastly committed to providing a learning environment that fosters academic excellence in ocean education, and contributes to the development of life skills. Through a combination of theoretical learning and practical application, students are challenged both academically and personally.