Washington Maritime Blue is an organization that has an outsized impact compared to its staffing footprint. This summer, I had the invaluable opportunity to see how they achieve this. Through my work supporting the Joint Innovation program, I gained insights into how the organization effectively manages priorities, partners’ interests, and collaborative agreements, all while seeking new opportunities for progress.
My summer began with supporting RMI’s Advancing Zero Emission Fuels in Washington’s Shipping Sector: A Roadmap to 2050. Washington Maritime Blue, the Port of Seattle, the Northwest Seaport Alliance, and the Consortium for Hydrogen and Renewable E-Fuels (CHARGE) served on the advisory committee for this report. They were responsible for providing expert feedback and hosting workshops to solicit industry input. I thoroughly enjoyed assisting in this process, as it allowed me to apply my qualitative research skills by recording, coding, and conducting thematic analysis on the feedback so RMI could efficiently address it.
These same partners were also part of the Washington Sustainable Maritime Fuels Collaborative, a group of organizations working to unite industry members, nonprofits, ports, governments, and other stakeholders to address the chicken-and-egg dilemma surrounding Sustainable Maritime Fuels. My role involved developing research and background documents on policy, key players in the space, and strategies employed by other states. This work helped me develop a comprehensive understanding of the current maritime fuels landscape and the next steps. I also had the opportunity to assist in developing a Request for Proposals (RFP), which provided me with greater insight into the grant process.
In addition to the Sustainable Fuels work, I contributed to a MARAD assessment on domestic capacity for developing vessels that minimize underwater radiated noise (URN) while also targeting energy efficiency. This was an excellent opportunity to dive into the literature, identify research gaps, map stakeholders, and strategize outreach.
Other projects I worked on included assisting Washington kelp farmers with a planning grant proposal to help develop a market for sugar and bull kelp and collaborating with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to convene scientists to address research needs within the Ocean Climate Action Plan.
