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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri"><font color="#000000">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:</font></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%">
<b><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(65,116,178)">Undergraduate students with SEA Semester:
Marine Biodiversity & Conservation program to host Sylvia Earle and other
renowned oceanographers, conservationists and policy-makers at May 29 symposium
highlighting recent Sargasso Sea research.</span></b><span style="font-size:13pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(64,64,64)"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(65,116,178)"><br>
</span></b><b><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(65,116,178)">Woods Hole, MA, May 22, 2014—</span></b><span style="font-family:Calibri">Undergraduate
students with the SEA Semester: Marine Biodiversity & Conservation (MBC)
program (</span><a href="http://www.sea.edu/MBC_program"><span style="font-family:Calibri">www.sea.edu/MBC_program</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri">) will host
a symposium on May 29, from 9am until 5pm at the SEA Semester/Sea Education
Association campus in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The 3<sup>rd</sup> annual
symposium includes formal student presentations and poster sessions on recently
completed Sargasso Sea conservation and biodiversity research projects. Guest speakers include Sylvia Earle from
Mission Blue, Vera Agostini from The Nature Conservancy, David Freestone with
The Sargasso Sea Alliance, and John Hanning with Archimedes Aerospace. Representatives from Forest Trends
Association, Wildlife Conservation Society, New England Aquarium, International
Union for Conservation of Nature, Marine Biological Laboratory, University of
Rhode Island, Institute of Marine Research, Norway, University of Connecticut,
and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will also be in attendance. This event
is open to the public and a full symposium schedule can be accessed <u>at </u></span><a href="http://www.sea.edu"><span style="font-family:Calibri">www.sea.edu</span></a><span class=""><span style="font-family:Calibri">/MBC</span></span><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(89,89,89)"> </span><span style="font-family:Calibri"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:Calibri">As part of SEA
Semester: Marine Biodiversity & Conservation (MBC), a twelve-week study
abroad program (</span><a href="http://www.sea.edu/MBC_Program"><span style="font-family:Calibri">www.sea.edu/MBC_Program</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri">), these
fourteen undergraduates—including nine women and two international students—have
formulated policy and science research projects focused on the Sargasso Sea, a
vast expanse of blue water situated in the mid-North Atlantic. Projects are
multi-faceted, dealing both with conservation and policy strategies among
fishing, shipping and biodiversity sectors as well as biodiversity of ecologically
and economically important groups of organisms found in the Sargasso Sea.
Student data and research also supplements organized international efforts to
study and protect the Sargasso Sea, providing valuable information to
stakeholders and creating outstanding networking opportunities for these future
scientists and policy-makers. The MBC program began in early March at Sea
Education Association’s campus in Woods Hole, Massachusetts where students took
classes in ocean policy, biological oceanography and nautical science to establish
a conceptual framework in marine ecology, resource management and sailing. Students
then spent the next five weeks (beginning in mid-April) at sea, sailing aboard
the SSV <i>Corwith Cramer </i>from San Juan,
Puerto Rico, to Bermuda, and on to New York City. During this portion of the
semester, in addition to learning how to navigate and sail a tall ship and
become members of a shipboard community, students conducted twice-daily surface
and subsurface net tows, studying and cataloguing specimens for their science
research projects and worked </span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">with Sargasso Sea conservation stakeholders
to understand the human connections to the Sargasso Sea and develop policy
recommendations relating to their projects.<span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></span><span style="font-family:Calibri">The final portion of the program is now taking place on campus in
Woods Hole, where students are completing scientific data analyses and
preparing policy sector strategy recommendations for presentation at the May 29
symposium.</span><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Times"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(51,95,162)">About SEA Semester®
<br>
</span></b><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(71,71,71)">SEA Semester (</span><a href="http://www.sea.edu"><span style="font-family:Calibri">www.sea.edu</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(71,71,71)">) is
the leading off-campus Environmental Studies program focused on the oceans. SEA
Semester creates environmentally literate leaders who are prepared to address
the defining issue of the twenty-first century: the human impact on the
environment. The ideal SEA Semester<sup> </sup>student is highly motivated,
passionate about learning, willing to seek out new challenges, and eager to
become part of a unique learning community.<br>
<br>
</span><span style="font-family:Calibri"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:14pt;line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(71,71,71)">Unlike any other study
abroad program, SEA Semester<sup> </sup>programs include both on-shore and
at-sea components, wherein students spend the first portion of a semester on
SEA’s campus in Woods Hole, taking courses ranging from ocean science to public
policy, nautical science and maritime history. These on-shore courses prepare
students for the next portion of the program: sailing aboard one of SEA’s
sailing school vessels, where, in addition to conducting hands-on, field-based
research projects, students also work as members of the ship’s crew.
Rigorous academics combined with the adventure of sailing aboard a tall ship
create a truly one-of-a-kind study abroad program. All SEA Semester
programs are accredited by Boston University and offer up to 18 semester
credits. While the program is renowned for its excellence in the
sciences, all SEA Semester programs are interdisciplinary and welcome students
from any major. Students also gain valuable experience in leadership training,
group dynamics, and team-building: all areas that help students develop into
well-rounded, confident, open-minded and contributing members of society.</span><span style="font-family:Calibri"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:14pt;line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(71,71,71)"> </span><b><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(51,95,162)">About
Sea Education Association</span></b><span style="font-family:Calibri"><br>
<span style="color:rgb(71,71,71)">
Sea Education Association (SEA) </span></span><a href="http://www.sea.edu"><span style="font-family:Calibri">www.sea.edu</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(71,71,71)">, is an internationally recognized leader in
undergraduate ocean education. For more than 40 years and over one million
nautical miles sailed, SEA has educated students about the world’s oceans
through its fully accredited study abroad program, SEA Semester.</span><span style="font-family:Calibri"></span></p>
<span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(71,71,71)"> SEA/SEA
Semester is based on Cape Cod in the oceanographic research community of Woods
Hole, Massachusetts and has two research vessels: the SSV <i>Corwith Cramer</i>,
operating in the Atlantic Ocean, and the SSV <i>Robert C. Seamans</i>, operating
in the Pacific.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri"><br>
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<tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="92"><img src="http://www.sea.edu/images/sea_images/logo_signatures.gif" width="80" height="107" style="padding-right: 12px;"></td><td valign="top"><p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(74,74,74);font-family:Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:12px">
<strong>Jennica Deely</strong><br>Marketing Coordinator<br>Sea Education Association <br>P.O. Box 6 • Woods Hole, MA 02543<br><strong>t:</strong> 508.540.3954 x523<br><strong>f:</strong> 800.977.8516<br><a href="http://www.sea.edu/" style="color:rgb(206,22,40);text-decoration:none!important" target="_blank">www.sea.edu</a></p>
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