Betsy Nicholson,  NOAA's Northeast Lead for the Coastal Services Center, learned to love the sea as a young sailor on Narragansett Bay out of Bristol, RI. This exposure drew her to the Williams-Mystic program while at Williams College, where she studied not only marine sciences, but literature of the sea, maritime history, and tried her hand as crew of the Corwith Crammer, a 134-foot brigantine. After internships at Woods Hole Marine Policy Center and with the New England Aquarium studying Hector's Dolphins in New Zealand, Betsy went back to school to earn her Masters in Coastal Environmental Management from Duke. In 2000, she started her career at NOAA's National Ocean Service as a Sea Grant Fellow. Seeking a broad perspective, she staffed the NOAA Administrator on ocean and coastal issues and served as the NOAA Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce. Most recently, Betsy has returned to her native New England to tackle coastal management issues on a regional level for NOAA. She serves as a liaison between NOAA and New England coastal states, overseeing and coordinating state and regional coastal management initiatives. Betsy and her husband are the proud new owners of a Rhodes 19, Adelaide, which they sail out of Gloucester, MA.