SeaState: The ON&T Podcast

In this month's episode of SeaState, we sit down with Dawn F. Massa Stancavish, President, CEO and Chief Innovation Officer, and discover how a commitment to building long-term relationships has shaped the Massa Products Corporation’s unique history, and how a focus on developing “fit-for-mission technologies” has kept the company at the forefront of sonar and ultrasonic sensor engineering for over 75 years.

Erin Daily Donahue is a Trade Commissioner responsible for defense, aerospace, and ocean technologies at the Canadian Consulate General in Boston.  

Since joining the Canadian Consulate team in 2005, Erin has held a variety of positions within both the Consular and International Business Development divisions.  Prior to taking on responsibility for the defense and ocean technologies file, Erin was responsible for seafood and aquaculture technology sectors.  As part of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, she provides strategic market information and market access solutions for Canadian companies looking to export, invest abroad, or develop innovation and R&D partnerships in the U.S. She also assists U.S. companies planning to establish or expand their operations in Canada. 

A Massachusetts native, Erin graduated from Clark University with a BA in Government and International Relations. Before joining the Trade Commissioner Service, she worked abroad at the Université de Versailles in France. 

In this episode of SeaState, Rhonda Moniz talks with the executive director of the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind, RWSC, Emily Shumchenia. It is the mission of RWSC to conduct and coordinate relevant, credible, and efficient regional monitoring and research of wildlife and marine ecosystems that supports the advancement of environmentally responsible and cost-efficient offshore wind power development activities in U.S. Atlantic waters collaboratively and effectively. Happy listening! 

“If we look back at the history of oceanology and marine science, there’s always been this legacy of the need to push the boundaries of technology, but what’s changed in the last couple of decades is that previously this meant putting people in harm’s way—people on ships, into storms, and difficult conditions—but now we can transfer some of that risk onto robots.”

Listen to this and other fascinating insights from Dr. Art Trembanis, an expert oceanographer and professor at the University of Delaware (UD), in the latest episode of ON&T’s SeaState podcast, in which we explore the growing utility of underwater drones in the marine domain. 

Art is also the deputy director of UD’s Center for Autonomous and Robotic Systems (CARS), a collaborative group of researchers focused on integrating real-world solutions by fusing systems control technology with artificial intelligence, so the ideal guest with which to contemplate the recent advances in uncrewed assets for ocean exploration.

In our final episode for season 3, SeaState is talking to Chris Ostrander about Innovation and Marine Technology. Chris is an oceanographer and business development executive with extensive experience in building and leading complex organizations, advancing mission-driven partnerships, and guiding durable growth for a range of academic, government, and private organizations.  Prior to joining the Marine Technology Society, Chris served in a range of leadership roles at the University of Utah spanning technology licensing and commercialization, industry partnerships, foundation & corporate philanthropy, and research administration. Happy listening! 

"We're running gliders every year since 2013 from the Bering Strait all the way up to Barrow Alaska, that's like this 1800 km transect, just developing this time-series of acoustics. It's like we're eavesdropping on climate change because the marine mammals are incredible integrators of the ecosystem and now, we've got an incredible time-series to investigate how they respond." Hank Statscewich, Researcher at College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Institute of Marine Science in Alaska. 

Walt Musial is a principal engineer and leads the offshore wind research platform at NREL, where he has worked for 31 years. In 2003, he initiated the offshore wind energy research program, which focuses on a range of industry needs and critical technology challenges. Walt also developed and ran NREL’s full-scale blade and drivetrain testing facilities for 15 years. Earlier, Walt worked as a test engineer for five years in the commercial wind energy industry in California. He has authored more than 100 publications and holds two patents. Enjoy another episode of SeaState.

Welcome to a new episode of ON&T's Podcast. We are talking to Isabel Rivera-Collazo, Assistant Professor on Biological, Ecological and Human Adaptations to Climate Change at the Department of Anthropology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and directs the SIO Human Ecology Laboratory. Her work combines earth sciences, archaeology, and marine ecology to understand social vulnerability to climate and environmental change, through food and habitat security in coastal and marine areas. Through geoarchaeology and archaeomalacology, Prof. Rivera-Collazo works to identify lessons from the past that are relevant to communities in the present. Enjoy another great episode of SeaState!

Our guest for the latest episode of SeaState is Dr. Shirley Pomponi, a professor and marine biotechnologist, at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Pomponi leads the sponge biotechnology lab where they develop methods for in vitro production of bioactive compounds as a supply of chemically complex natural products. Find out more about marine sponges and their potential use for the pharmaceutical industry and restoring habitats.

In this episode of SeaState, we talk to Mark Jollymore, President of Innovasea Systems, and Tim Stone, GM & VP of Product Development Aquaculture-Intelligence at Innovasea. Innovasea provides aquatic solutions that hold up in the most challenging conditions. This requires more than just delivering the world’s most advanced aquatic technologies. It means continuously applying knowledge in science and engineering, fish tracking, and farm operations to develop the ideal systems for each site. It means working shoulder-to-shoulder with customers to cultivate and protect fish populations. And it means consciously designing products and services to give back more to nature than we take. Innovasea is driven by a commitment to make our ocean and freshwater ecosystems sustainable for future generations. A pioneer in developing end-to-end solutions for aquatic ecosystems, Innovasea is intent on leading and feeding innovation.