America's Boating Club Southeastern New England Fall Conference

10/25– 10/27, 2024
Hyannis Doubletree by Hilton, Hyannis, MA

Dr Jennifer Francis

Lunch presentation:"Rough Weather Ahead: How Climate Change Is Making Our Weather More Extreme."

Jennifer Francis is a Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Previously she spent 24 years as a Research Professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University, where she studied the Arctic climate system and how rapid Arctic change is affecting areas beyond the Arctic, particularly extreme weather in the Northern Hemisphere. Jennifer earned a B.S. in Meteorology from San Jose State University in 1988 and a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington in 1994. She and her husband circumnavigated the globe by sail during the early 1980s, including the Arctic, which is where her interest in the region began. They now live on their catamaran eight months/year riding the winds to the Caribbean, Central America, and now the South Pacific.

Samantha Gray

After Dinner Presentation: "Insight into the Rich History, Fascinating Features, & Navigation Operations of the Cape Cod Canal"

Samantha Gray is an Interpretive Park Ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Cape Cod Canal. She's worked at the Canal for 25 years, where she manages the Canal's Interpretive Services and Outreach Programs, as well as the Cape Cod Canal Visitor Center in Sandwich, Massachusetts. As an interpreter, Ms. Gray reveals and relates the Canal's unique history, features and operations to people of all ages. For her work, she has been selected by USACE for multiple awards including regional Interpreter of the Year and the American Recreation Coalition's Legends Award. Ms. Gray earned her degree in Conservation of Natural Resources from Long Island University.