Excerpts from the Elsaesser Fellowship ApplicationWhy the Kenai Fjords? Since I first arrived on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula in April 2015, I knew it was a special place. I feel privileged to have spent the past five summers exploring the fjords through my work as a sea kayak guide and a deckhand based out of the town of Seward. I have had the opportunity to learn the many faces of the fjords, to grow familiar with particular weather patterns, to sense the subtle changes in light throughout the year, and to eventually feel the summer slip into a cool maritime fall. I have learned to identify seabirds at a glimpse by the way they flap their wings, and know which shelves to look for humpback and fin whales, how high on the hillside to look for mountain goats at a particular time of year, and where killer whales assemble to feast on the salmon that keep Alaska’s metabolic time. I have also been able to witness changes in the landscape since my first summer in the fjords, mostly in the recession of tidewater glaciers. I want to keep exploring further along the coastline, to places that summer work responsibilities and little time off have kept merely a dream. I aspire to learn more about this region, and really come to know it, while I still can sail and paddle in the presence of glaciers that carved these very fjords. Why sailing? The plans for a purposeful and personal sailing trip have been in the works for a long time. I developed a strong connection with the sea and sailing at an early age, living aboard a 37’ sailboat with my family for a year. We sailed from New Hampshire to the Bahamas and then back up to the Chesapeake Bay, homeschooling all along the way. It was my first real introduction to sailing and travel. A decade later, in high school, I spent four months sailing the Caribbean and the east coast aboard SSV Harvey Gamage. It’s where my I formed my first independent connection with shipboard life and the amazing feats that can be accomplished with a supportive team of shipmates. I even wrote my college essay about going aloft. Throughout college, I returned to Gamage every winter break to work as a deckhand and science educator. I am now an assistant scientist with Sea Education Association, teaching marine science to university students aboard SSV Corwith Cramerand SSV Robert C. Seamans. In fact, I wrote this personal statement for this fellowship in the main salon of Seamans after sailing from Pago Pago, American Samoa, to Auckland, New Zealand. I’ve learned so much in the last several years working as part of the SEA team and have thoroughly enjoyed having the ocean and sailing be such a large part of my life. Reflecting on influential moments and mentors over the past decade, it is clear how these sailing communities have made a tremendous impact on who I am today. Why artwork? Looking back, I have also always loved sketching animals and landscapes. Most of my journal from my family’s sailing trip is filled with pages of my writing about the various animals I had seen and the pictures that I drew of them. In college, I designed diagrams to explain the population genetics of horseshoe crabs and their symbionts for my senior thesis. In Alaska, I draw diagrams to calculate and visualize tides and to describe how glaciers move through and shape landscapes. On Cramer and Seamans, I draw identifying features of zooplankton to help the students recognize the microscopic members of ocean ecosystems, diagrams that explain how the water column changes through the seasons, and sketches that show how birds can fly close to the surface of the water with less effort. I have always been a visual learner and my notebooks from college classes are packed with diagrams and colorful shading. I have found that this method of interpreting science using art has made complex topics more digestible. I would be thrilled to continue sharing the rugged and inspiring coastlines of Alaska’s Kenai Fjords through environmentally-inspired art created on a sailing voyage.
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April 2021
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