Coming Ashore: Career Development for Wayward Sailors
Speakers
Dr. Austin Becker, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island
Tyson Bottenus
Cassie Audette Ezzell, Director of Programs, Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England
Elizabeth Mendenhall, Ph.D, Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director at the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Marine Affairs
This session will explore career development pathways using the example of University of Rhode Island’s Marine Affairs programs, featuring URI alumni from the sail training industry.
Dr. Austin Becker is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island. As an interdisciplinary scientist, he works across the fields of planning, policy, engineering, and ocean science. He creates and tests tools that help decision makers engage with complex problems involving uncertainty, consequences of natural hazards and large-scale shifts in climate, and the resulting challenges in policy and planning. This includes communicating storm impacts to emergency managers; perceptions of climate change amongst port administrators (globally); impacts of hurricanes on port communities; barriers to resilience investing at northeast ports; and vulnerability assessments undertaken by US ports. He has received funding from DHS, USACE, DOD, Dept. of Transportation and has worked directly with numerous industry groups.
Dr. Becker serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Maritime Policy and Management and co-editor of the book Climate Change Adaptation Planning for Ports. He serves as an expert member of the United Nations Expert Group on Climate Adaptation for Transport. In 2020, he was appointed as Visiting Fellow at the US Naval War College, where he undertakes research on hazard impacts to Naval Station Newport and the surrounding municipalities. Dr. Becker has over 50 peer-reviewed publications and in 2017 was awarded the prestigious Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship in Ocean Sciences. He earned a PhD in Environment and Resources at Stanford University and maintains a 500 Ton USCG Captain’s License.
Tyson Bottenus holds a 100 ton USCG inland Masters and has been involved with the burgeoning offshore wind industry in Rhode Island since 2015. He has spent years working as a commercial fisheries observer in New England and for organizations like Sailors for the Sea and Oceana working to reduce plastic pollution within the recreational boating industry. In 2020, he decided to go back to school to get his Masters in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island.
At the Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England (GSSNE), Cassie is primarily responsible for Girl Scout programming, summer and troop camping, the mariners troop, and strategic planning for the Girl Scout experience. She started at GSSNE in May of 2019. She has prior experience in environmental and high adventure education as well as playing an active role in local marine education and conservation. Cassie has a master’s degree in Marine Affairs with a concentration in Environmental Education from the University of Rhode Island and an environmental education teaching certification through Cornell University. She loves traveling, the beach and sailing, cooking, and spending time with her family and dog at her vacation home in Maine.
Elizabeth Mendenhall is an Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director at the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Marine Affairs. Her research focuses on the international ocean governance regime, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Recent work addresses artificial island building, sea level rise, marine plastic debris, strategic nuclear submarines, COVID-19 and cruise ships, and the ‘Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction’ negotiations.
Register for the conference today!
Tall Ships America Annual Conference 