Ship to Shore Education Program
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| VOYAGE 2- SEPTEMBER 2009 CREW
(Left to Right Front- Gwen, Capt. Moore, Bonnie. Back- Lindsey, Jeff, Bill) Captain Charles Moore
In 1994 Captain Moore founded Algalita Marine Research Foundation. In 1995 he launched his aluminum hulled research vessel, Alguita, in Hobart, Tasmania. Since then he has logged over 75,000 miles of research voyages aboard. He helped develop chemical and bacterial monitoring methods for Surfrider Foundation's "Blue Water Task Force," and developed protocols with Southern California Coastal Water Research Project for monitoring marine and beach micro-plastics. He is the lead author of two scientific papers on plastic particulate pollution published in Marine Pollution Bulletin and is a world-renowned investigator in this field. His voyages to the Eastern Garbage Patch of the North Pacific Gyre have been featured in US News & World Report, Natural History, the CBS evening news with Dan Rather, The Osgood File, and on the July 13, 2003 edition of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." Jeff Ernst
Jeff Ernst has been working with ORV Alguita since 2007 and functioned as first mate throughout the 2008 and research year, in the span of that time racking up close to ten thousand miles at sea. A graduate of the University of Hawaii Hilo with a BA in natural sciences, and a marine science minor, he started working with the Alguita as a student volunteer in conjunction with a special topic seminar on Marine Debris during his last semester. His roles have also expanded to fill the need for a ships photographer capturing images of the work Alguita has been doing, which have been seen in countless US and global articles, tv segments, and periodicals including Discover and WEND. In conjunction to his duties to the boat he also works as a member of the research team helping to analyze samples collected during the winter 08 crossing. Gwen Lattin
William J. Cooper Ph.D.
Bonnie Monteleone
Bonnie Monteleone is a Graduate Liberal Studies student, works in the Chemistry Office at UNCWilmington and is the mother of Tricia and Francesco Monteleone. Bonnie will receive her Masters degree Fall 2009. Her thesis title “The Plastic Ocean Project – If the Ocean Could Talk . . .” looks at the compromised environment for the convenience of plastic. Her thesis investigates questions beyond the physical harmful effects on marine life, such as ingestion and entanglement, and, explores the chemical implications of plastic in the food chain. A major thrust of her studies, in collaboration with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF), addresses the question “If the gyre in the North Pacific is inundated with plastic, is the North Atlantic Gyre?” Lindsey Hoshaw
Lindsey Hoshaw is a recent graduate of the Stanford University journalism program. Before receiving her M.A. in Communication she wrote for the Tucson Citizen in Arizona and the Argentimes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Currrently she works as a multimedia freelance journalist, often focusing on environmental issues. Her articles have ranged from travel stories for Sunset magazine to chronicling the lives of street recyclers for the Argentimes. Her work on the Alguita will focus on documenting the prevalence of plastic pollution for an online photo slideshow, which both KQED and The New York Times have expressed an interest in. Her trip was completed funded by citizens across the U.S. through Spot.us' innovative crowd-sourced new media platform. SUMMER 2009 VOYAGE 1 June- July
A few of the 2009 crew members aboard ORV Alguita preparing for the upcoming voyage (Left to right Nicole, Jeff, Christiana, Gwen) Captain Charles Moore
Jeff Ernst
Jeff Ernst has been working with ORV Alguita since 2007 and functioned as first mate throughout the 2008 and research year, in the span of that time racking up close to ten thousand miles at sea. A graduate of the University of Hawaii Hilo with a BA in natural sciences, and a marine science minor, he started working with the Alguita as a student volunteer in conjunction with a special topic seminar on Marine Debris during his last semester. His roles have also expanded to fill the need for a ships photographer capturing images of the work Alguita has been doing, which have been seen in countless US and global articles, tv segments, and periodicals including Discover and WEND. In conjunction to his duties to the boat he also works as a member of the research team helping to analyze samples collected during the winter 08 crossing. Christiana Boerger
Joel Paschal This will be Joel Paschal's second expedition aboard ORV Alguita having also served as a crew member during the 2008 Gyre Voyage. Joel is an experienced sailor, underwater photographer and videographer, and an important member of the research team. Joel previously worked on marine debris removal with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). After the 2008 Gyre Expedition Joel and Marcus Eriksen (AMRF Education Director) built a raft out of 15,000 plastic bottles and sailed it 2,600 miles from Los Angeles to Hawaii to raise awareness about plastic marine debris. To learn more about his amazing voyage follow the link below. http://www.junkraft.com/home.html
Drew Wheeler Drew Wheeler (ScubaDrew) will join the crew of the ORV Alguita for the second time. After his first trip to the gyre in Aug 2002, Drew (and his wife Jamie) moved from Los Angeles, took up residence on Oahu, where Drew became a PADI scuba instructor and together they started ScubaDrew VideoWorks, an underwater video service. Nicole Chatterson
By the time the voyage is underway, Nicole will be a graduate of the Environmental Science and Policy program ( with a minor in Geology) from California State University, Long Beach. A part of Algalita’s operations staff for the past 2 years, this will be her first serious oceanic expedition! She is excited to take part in the various research projects that will occur onboard, as well as the challenges and adventures that will await her on the longest leg of the Pacific Exploration. While at sea, Nicole will be heading up the vessel blog and Ship-2-Shore communications. Shore Crew Holly Gray
Holly Gray received her Bachelors degree from UC Santa Cruz in Environmental Studies and Biology, and completed UCSC's graduate program in Scientific Communications. She is currently conducting research for her Masters Degree through the University of Nebraska in conjunction with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. The focus of her study is plastic marine debris ingestion in seabirds. She has also worked with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation for two years as the Research Vessel Support Coordinator and will be providing shore support for the Ship-2-Shore education program during the voyage this summer.
_______________________________ Crew from the Gyre Voyage Winter 2008
(Left to right Marcus, Anna, Herb, Jeff, Capt. Moore, Joel) _______________________________ Crew from the Gyre Voyage Fall 2007 Captain Charles Moore
Dr. Lorena Rios
Dr. Lorena Rios, a visiting researcher at the University of the Pacific, is currently conducting research for the Algalita Marine Research Foundation on the types of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) that are absorbed into and adsorbed onto plastic debris accumulating in our oceans. She wants to be able to identify several POPs in the plastics such as PBBs, Nonylphenols, Phthalates and PBDEs.These chemicals may have an affect on the hormones of the animals that are ingesting them. To understand these effects, Dr. Rios is studying estrogen receptors using computer models. Using the computer model and Quantum Chemical Theory will help her calculate the interaction between POPs and the make-up of the plastic. Figuring out these calculations will help explain the problem of pollutants in the plastic debris in our oceans, as it will determine if the pollutants are the problem or if plastic alone is causing the same effect. Dr. Joseph Pendleton Goodman
Dr Goodman was born in Los Angeles, California. As a very experienced sailor, and ship's doctor he has an important job keeping both the crew and the boat safe during the voyage! The Documentary Film Crew Three members of the ship's research team are working on a documentary film project about the "Eastern Garbage Patch" for VBS TV.
Jake Burghardt
Thomas Morton
New Crew Learn the Ropes During the Training Voyage   
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