Junior SeaKeepers 24-25 Webinar 4: Captain. S. Davis Alford - Science on the High Seas

Overview

On Tuesday, December 10th, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society hosted the fourth Junior SeaKeepers Program webinar for 2024-25 cohort students. For this virtual industry talk, we were thrilled to have Captain S. Davis Alford, a SeaKeepers partner DISCOVERY Vessel Captain, and lifetime ocean explorer.

Raised in North Carolina, Captain S. Davis Alford was exposed to the glories and adventurers the ocean had to offer from a young age. Family sailing trips to the Caribbean were often and he calls the Virgin Islands his “home away from home.” In high school, Captain Davis started completing offshore deliveries aboard a family friend’s sailing yacht, which he assists aboard as crew to this day. Offshore sailing was common for Captain Davis while attending Appalachian State University, where he acquired degrees in Biology, Conservation Ecology, and Environmental Sciences. To date, he has logged over 50,000 nautical miles at sea and sailed in the waters of six continents. After college, he obtained his American Sailing Association certifications. He was able to freelance skipper a handful of voyages each year in the Caribbean when he had time off of his day-to-day occupation as a Medical Device Consultant. At the onset of Covid-19, Captain Davis decided to follow his lifelong dream of working on the ocean full-time and set about finalizing his United States Coast Guard Master Captain’s License. Since then, he has run charter vessels, private yachts, luxury catamarans, a 140’ wooden schooner, and has instructed sailing at one of the world’s top ASA schools. Currently residing in Charleston, SC, part-time but on the water full-time, Captain Davis has led two scientific expeditions with The International Seakeepers Society and looks forward to working with similar organizations and scientists for many years to come. Most recently, Captain Davis has become the Owner and Executive Captain of a 1936 125’ Military Research Vessel that is preparing to begin a circumnavigation of North America beginning in 2025. He lives by the adopted thought “We are all islands in the sea- separate on the surface, but connected in the deep.”

We concluded the webinar with a Q+A with students, where many questions were directed at opportunities to work in the maritime industry and how it can connect you to cultures and ecosystems all over the world. By attending webinars led by SeaKeepers' industry partners and researchers, our Junior SeaKeepers have the opportunity to learn first-hand about the diversity of work that exists in the marine conservation realm. Additionally, students get direct access to accomplished professionals and can see the advancements in the field that are the result of research and exploration happening every day all over the world. Through speaking with Captain Davis about his personal history and work in science and sailing, we hope that our JSKs were able to get a better idea of the types of career opportunities that exist in the marine world and outside of hard research science.