UMPI student to sail
on an educational adventure of a lifetime
WOODS HOLE, Mass. — Justine Cyr of Fort Kent is enrolled in SEA Semester, a study abroad program through Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Mass., while away from studies at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
Cyr has successfully completed the Sea Semester’s six-week shore component, earning academic credit for curriculum in oceanography, nautical science and maritime studies.
Photo courtesy of UMPI
Justine Cyr, a senior biology major at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, is participating in a SEA [Sea Education Association] semester this fall. As part of the learning experience, Cyr is sailing from San Diego to Honolulu and conducting a research project along the way.
At the program’s Woods Hole campus, Cyr developed a research project that will be tested and completed aboard SEA’s 134-foot sailing vessel the Robert C. Seamans, one of the most sophisticated research-equipped vessels under sail in the United States. She will be sailing on the tall ship from San Diego, Calif., with a final destination of Honolulu, Hawaii, a journey of approximately 3,000 nautical miles and six weeks at sea. During that time, in addition to collecting data for a research project, Cyr will help provide weather observations to a national database, learn to chart the course of the vessel using celestial navigation and serve as the Junior Watch Officer (JWO), taking full command of the vessel during a watch. Cyr’s shipmates come from colleges and universities around the country.
For more information, visit www.sea.edu, where you can track progress of the vessel, updated daily each business day and download podcasts from sea.
