With the publication of the current administration’s budget calling Sea Grant part of the “lower priority, and in many cases, unauthorized” parts of NOAA, we here at DSN are highlighting people who are or have been supported by Sea Grant. If you would like to share your story with us about why #IAmSeaGrant, please send it to us.
Ben Wetherill is a recent UMB grad (go Beacons!) who has been developing coastal technologies for a variety of marine industries around Boston.
I recently graduated from UMass Boston with a Masters Degree in Marine Science and Technology. My graduate research was mostly funded by MIT SeaGrant. I studied several different aspects of marine monitoring technology. A co-researcher from Boston University and I developed a simple low-cost camera technology for monitoring remote coastal conditions. We tested it in Boston Harbor, and since then I have installed the same design under contract for researchers at several locations around Massachusetts. I also worked on improving technology for modeling bacterial water quality in beaches and rivers. I developed models based on real-time weather and water conditions, and one of my sensor installations was purchased by the Charles River Watershed Association. I am currently working under contract to study water quality and sensor data in Lynn and Swampscott. As a result of the funding I received from MIT SeaGrant, I was able to start a consulting company providing water sensor and monitoring services (www.coastalsensors.com). I have even done one job with MIT SeaGrant as a client. And, support from MIT SeaGrant also gave me the opportunity to teach students about water quality monitoring at the Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research.
I am SeaGrant.
