SEA Semester Organization Receives National Honor

COURTESY OF THE SEA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Vint Cerf, National Science Board Member and Vice President & Chief Internet Evangelist for Google presents the National Science Board’s Public Service Award to Peg Brandon, President of the Sea Education Organization.

WOODS HOLE – A nautical educational organization based out of Woods Hole recently received a national honor.

The Sea Education Association, which operates its SEA Semester program, was presented with the National Science Board’s 2016 Public Service Award at a Washington, DC ceremony on May 5.

The award honors organizations that have made substantial contributions to increasing public understanding of science and engineering.

Previous winners of the award include the American Museum of Natural History and the PBS series NOVA.

Since 1971, more than 8,000 undergraduates have attended SEA Semester programs to explore global issues, including climate change, sustainability, biodiversity and human impacts on the environment. SEA has alos educated more than 2,000 students through its high school and collaborative programs.

SEA takes a hands-on approach to studying the ocean. Highlights of the program include the first federally-funded research expedition to study plastic debris in the North Atlantic and the annual Sargasso Sea Symposium where students present to and learn from ocean conservation leaders.

SEA operates one research vessel, SSV Corwith Cramer, in the Atlantic Ocean and one in the Pacific Ocean, the SVV Robert C. Seamans.