Junior SeaKeepers Webinar 8: Capt. S. Davis Alford - High Seas Science

Overview

On Wednesday, April 18th, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society hosted the eighth Junior SeaKeepers Program webinar for 2023-24 cohort students. For this virtual talk, we were thrilled to have Captain S. Davis Alford, a past SeaKeepers DISCOVERY vessel captain and participant in our Scientist-Led Expeditions program in the Bahamas with the Perry Institute of Marine Science.

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 still assists 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 and was able to freelance skipper a handful of charter voyages in the Caribbean each year when he had time off of his day-to-day occupational 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 ran term charter vessels, private yachts, luxury catamarans, and a 140’ wooden schooner. Currently residing in Charleston, SC- he is a Senior Captain and Instructor at Charleston Sailing School. Captain Davis has led two scientific expeditions with the International Seakeepers Society and looks forward to working with the organization and other scientists again. He lives by the adopted thought “We are all islands in the sea- separate on the surface, but connected in the deep."

Outing Goal

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 are able to 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 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.