Erin Myers

Erin C. Myers is the former ship's captain of the circumnavigating research vessel, Makulu II, she is a published editor for Blue Water Sailing magazine, and is a graduate student of environmental science and management at University of California, Santa Barbara whose work contributed to the 2007 COP in Bali, Indonesia.

Early life and education

Erin Myers was born December 2, 1977 to Mary Anne Myers (Hinckley) and F. Leonard Myers, along with her fraternal twin brother, Benjamin T. Myers, and raised in Norwood, Massachusetts. In 1996, she graduated valedictorian from Norwood High School. She elected to pursue an undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, first electing marine biology as a major, but perceived a career in this field as being research intensive and, deciding against research as a preferred career, changed her major to human geography. While in college she became part of the Dartmouth College sailing team and went on to become an All American for three years in a row and became the team captain during her senior year. She graduated Cum Laude in 2000.

ailing career

Erin grew up summers in Southwest Harbor, ME, on Mount Desert Island where she learned to sail in a 12' bullseye sailboat upon which her grandfather, George Hinckley and her parents taught her to sail. In high school during the summer, she worked on a commercial schooner, the Rachel B. Jackson [http://www.downeastsail.com/] and in the winter she helped sail the Rachel B. down to the Caribbean in her Sophomore year, marking the first expedition into the open ocean. Upon graduation from college, Erin moved to Hawaii to work on the schoooner Tole Mour with troubled Hawaiian boys by teaching them responsibility through the skills of sailing in which she worked as an Able-bodied Seaman. She loved to dance.

Circumnavigation

In 2001 she began a job for a company called Reach the World [http://reachtheworld.org] , which helps enhance classroom learning by sailing a schooner around the world to do research for middle school classes. The research done is in relation to the interests of the class, the topics being studied, and the location of the boat. The research is sent via satellite to the classrooms and correspondences are maintained by the crew and the pupils to facilitate an interactive learning experience. Erin captained the two year circumnavigation voyage which included four others; a videographer, two education specialists, and a first mate. The schooner, the Makulu II, followed the standard antipodal circumnavigation route going westwards, visiting such areas as the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Tonga, French Polynesia, Manila, Sri Lanka, the Suez Canal, Athens, Ghana, and New York. She returned to the States in 2004.

Professional career

After finishing her circumnavigation, Erin worked as an editor and writer for Blue Water Sailing magazine [http://www.bwsailing.com/] .In 2005 Erin gained admittance to the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara where she is currently working towards a master's degree. Her present focus is on studying the intersection of deforestation and climate change.

Erin is presently engaged to her former first mate aboard the Makulu II, Josh Madeira.