Tell us about yourself:

I grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges in upstate New York and graduated with a degree in Classics and Environmental Studies (yes, degrees in Latin and Greek do exist!!).  I was a member of our Sailing Team and was on the National Championship winning team my senior year! It was during college I discovered you can make a living on the water, aboard a sailing vessel! My first job after college was aboard a boat in California working with inner city students and it was aboard that vessel I met my husband. For years we went out to sea working for various vessels anywhere from the Caribbean, East Coast, West Coast, to the remote reaches of the South Pacific. We were doing all sorts of voyaging from taking students sailing to delivering cargo to remote islands. It was during those voyages that my husband and I dreamt of starting our own sailing business. In 2009 we were able to start the business we had dreamed of starting for years. We purchased a boat and moved aboard (we didn’t own any furniture anyway since working aboard other vessels for years and years). Now 12 years later we are still running the business in the summers in Castine and have loved every minute of it. I started at MMA in 2018 as a chance to share my love of the ocean, sailing, and a maritime background with the next generation. I wish I had known fully what Maine Maritime Academy had to offer when I was in High School so I am glad I am able to express to students, especially females, the different opportunities they can have if they pursue a maritime education.

Territories:

Northeast Region.

Favorite Aspect of Campus:

Water, water, water, boats, boats, boats. Maine Maritime Academy has the coolest playground you can ever imagine if you like anything to do with the water and boats, and both of those aspects run through my blood! Students have the most fun getting on the water but as a staff member I am able to get aboard the boats often and all the staff and faculty are invited to participate in the Supplemental Seamanship program which is offered every afternoon in the fall. It gets you on the various boats or sailing on the 99 year old Arctic Schooner Bowdoin. How many campuses have their own tug and schooner right next to each other! So cool!!

Fun Facts:

I have worked out to sea almost my entire adult career but I hate the taste of seafood!!

Favorite Movie:

With two kids under five years old, you don’t want to know that answer right now! I don’t think I have watched an adult movie in ages. We moved off of our boat a few days before our oldest was born and we didn’t get the chance to watch many movies when we lived on our boat. The last movie I watched was Space Jam during our Friday night movies with the kids.

Do you have pets?:

Not at the moment!

Favorite Color:

A deep red with some orange mixed in, to be exact.