James T. Carlton, Director, Marine Ecology
Lisa Gilbert, Oceanography
Glenn S. Gordinier, History of the Sea
Catherine Robinson Hall, Marine Policy
Richard King, Literature of the Sea
Dan Brayton, Literature of the Sea
Mary K Bercaw Edwards, Literature of the Sea
Megan Dobyns, Admissions Director
Elizabeth Berilla, Admissions Counselor
Amanda Severin, Alumni Relations and Development
Cate Kutzuba, Finance and Administration
Ryan Dillon, Teaching Assistant for the Sciences
Director
Marine Ecology
james.t.carlton(at)williams.edu
860-572-5359 ext. 3
Curriculum Vitae
Jim is Professor of Marine Sciences at Williams College. He has directed the Williams-Mystic Program since 1989 and also teaches Marine Ecology. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in Ecology, and was a postdoctoral scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His research is on global marine bioinvasions (their ecosystem impacts, dispersal mechanisms, and management strategies) and on marine extinctions in modern times. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Biological Invasions. He is a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Distinguished Research Fellow of the University of California, and a Duke University Conservation Scholar. In 1999 he was the first scientist to receive the federal government's Interagency Recognition Award for his national and international work to reduce the impacts of exotic invasions in the sea. He was Co-Chair of the Marine Biodiversity Committee of the National Academy of Sciences, which produced Understanding Marine Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for the Nation. Jim has testified eight times before the United States Congress (Senate and House subcommittees) concerning legislation involving invasive species in his capacity as an expert in the field. Jim was featured in 2005 in the nationally broadcast PBS-National Geographic series "Strange Days on Planet Earth," is annually heard on NPR, and was named by the Smithsonian Institution as an "Ocean Hero." As Director, Jim is committed to a curriculum that inspires undergraduates to pursue integrated investigations in the field of maritime studies.
Oceanography
lisa.a.gilbert(at)williams.edu
860-572-5302 ext. 5048
Curriculum Vitae
Lisa Gilbert is an Assistant Professor of Geosciences and Marine Science at Williams College. She earned her Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington, specializing in marine geology and geophysics. Her research interests include volcanic processes both on land and undersea, hydrothermal circulation, tectonic evolution of the seafloor, seamount and mid-ocean ridge structure, potential field methods, and inverse theory. Lisa has participated in more than a dozen oceanographic research expeditions, including several dives in the deep submergence vehicle Alvin and a scientific drilling expedition to super-fast spreading crust in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. She has also conducted fieldwork on ophiolites, pieces of ancient ocean crust, in California, France, Oman, and Cyprus. She is active in Ridge2000, an interdisciplinary initiative to study the Earth's oceanic spreading ridges, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, as well as the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, an international effort to study the history and structure of the Earth. Before joining the faculty at Williams-Mystic, Lisa taught geology and oceanography courses at Highline College, including field courses in the Pacific Northwest, desert Southwest, and Hawaii. She has also lectured in astronomy at the Pacific Science Center and served as an instructor for the Ocean Inquiry Project in Seattle. Lisa is an alumna of the Williams-Mystic Program.
History of the Sea
glenn.gordinier(at)mysticseaport.org
860-572-5302 x5089
Curriculum Vitae
Glenn Gordinier earned his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and is the Robert G. Albion Historian at Mystic Seaport. He also is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point, where he teaches history. Glenn has served as a Smithsonian Institution Lecturer and a Visiting Instructor for Trinity College and Connecticut College. His publications have involved maritime commerce, seafaring culture, and issues of race and ethnicity. Glenn serves as coordinator of Mystic Seaport's national "Conference on Race, Ethnicity, and Power in Maritime America" and is editor for the volume of conference papers. His publications include Perspectives on Race, Ethnicity and Power in Maritime America, 2005 and Fishing out of Stonington, 2004. He was also a contributor to America and the Sea: A Maritime History, 1998, and has written articles and reviews for numerous peer reviewed publications. Glenn is Co-Director of the Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies at Mystic Seaport, which offers graduate courses in maritime studies. His extensive experience with the museum helps students take advantage of its vast collection of artifacts and vessels. He is well known for his performance of Josiah Gardner, a 19th century master mariner under sail. Acclaimed by The New York Times, his historical portrayal has been seen across the U.S. and abroad.
Marine Policy
katy.hall(at)mysticseaport.org
860-572-5302 ext. 5158
Curriculum Vitae
Catherine Robinson Hall received her J.D. from Vermont Law School and is an environmental attorney concentrating in wetland, coastal and water law. Katy, a Senior Fellow at the University of Rhode Island's Coastal Institute where she is helping pilot a coastal issues Alternative Dispute Resolution Program), has litigated hundreds of cases relating to watershed, wetland, and coastal resource protection. She has drafted numerous regulatory policies, laws and regulations influencing land and water use, coastal resources, environmental enforcement and administrative practice. As a former Deputy Chief Legal Counsel at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Katy cofounded the agency's environmental mediation program, served as the Department's Public Ethics Officer, and was a liaison between the state environmental agency and federal Environmental Protection Agency to help develop uniform environmental policies. She has published articles on coastal policy (public trust doctrine) and water law. Katy is an alum of the Williams-Mystic Program from the spring of 1984.
Literature of the Sea
Curriculum Vitae
Rich’s research focuses on the connections between sea voyage narratives and natural history. He expects to complete his PhD from the University of St. Andrews in the spring of 2008. He is currently at work on a literary cruising guide to New England waters and a reference book about animals in maritime history. He has published in numerous popular and scholarly publications, and is now working on articles about cormorants, “The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens,” form and style in the sea voyage narrative, and is consulting for the new Cambridge edition of Woolf’s The Voyage Out. He’s been sailing on tall ships for over ten years, traveling throughout the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as both teacher and crewmember. Rich also moonlights as a professional illustrator, drawing regular cartoons for the Complete Idiot’s Guide series. He’s illustrated two children’s books on maritime topics.
Literature of the Sea
Curriculum Vitae
Dan Brayton comes to Williams-Mystic from Middlebury College, where he teaches English and World Literature. After graduating from Williams, he earned a Master's at UNC-Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. from Cornell. His field of specialization is the English Renaissance, including Shakespeare, Tudor and Stuart drama and poetry, Milton, and Utopian literature. He has published on Shakespeare's King Lear, Thomas More's Utopia, and on the playwrights Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, Phillip Massinger, Richard Brome, and Aphra Behn. Dan also focuses on maritime literature, and as an avid sailor and amateur maritime historian, Dan has published articles in Wooden Boat magazine and has taught aboard tallships. He is currently working on a book about Shakespeare and the English landscape
Literature of the Sea
maryk.bercawedwards(at)mysticseaport.org
860-572-5302 ext. 4027
Curriculum Vitae
Mary K specializes in American literature with an emphasis on the works of Herman Melville and other maritime authors. She earned her Ph.D. at Northwestern University. Mary K's first book, Melville's Sources, was published in 1987. Her second book, Herman Melville's Whaling Years, which she coedited with Thomas Farel Heffernan, was published in 2004. She is currently working on an annotated edition of Herman Melville's Omoo (Penguin Books). Mary K has spoken at conferences throughout the United States as well as in Greece and Poland. She served as Conference Director and Program Co-Chair for the Second International Melville Conference, then on the conference committees for three subsequent international Melville conferences. An Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Connecticut, Mary K was the 2004 President of The Melville Society, the oldest single-author society in the United States. As a youngster, Mary K sailed around the world in a 38-foot ketch, has now logged 56,000 miles at sea under sail, and holds a United States Coast Guard master's license. In addition to teaching, Mary K is a member of the Interpretation Department at Mystic Seaport and the foreman of the outdoor demonstration squad, spending part of her days working aloft on the whaleship Charles W. Morgan and the full-rigged training ship Joseph Conrad.
Admissions
admissions(at)williamsmystic.org
860-572-5359 ext. 2
Admissions Counselor
elizabeth.berilla(at)mysticseaport.org
860-572-5359 ext. 5
Liz graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. Her academic interests include maritime and environmental histories, and she is especially concerned with the protection of diamondback terrapins in the Chesapeake Bay. She joined Williams-Mystic as a student during the Spring 2006 semester and is excited to return to Mystic as the Admissions Counselor. Liz has worked for the past two summers as crew on the schooner WOODWIND in her hometown of Annapolis, Maryland.
Alumni Relations and Development
amanda.severin(at)mysticseaport.org
860-572-5359 ext. 1
Amanda Severin graduated from Wellesley College with degrees in American Studies and Classical Civilizations. Prior to coming to Williams-Mystic, she worked for the Trinity Boston Preservation Trust in Boston. She enjoys discovering regional candy bars, yoga, knitting, eating seasonally and living in a small town. Amanda is an alumna of Williams-Mystic.
Finance and Administration
cate.kutzuba(at)mysticseaport.org
860-572-5359 ext. 4
Cate has worn many hats- she's been an editor and journalist, pre-school teacher, Americorps volunteer, library clerk, and environmental education director. She has lived in Providence, RI, traveled to Jaguar Creek, Belize and several places in-between. Originally hailing from Western New York, she is embracing every opportunity to learn more about New England's maritime culture and maritime communities around the country.
Teaching Assistant for the Sciences
ryan.dillon(at)mysticseaport.org
860-572-5302 ext. 5040
