Rhode Island’s Ocean and Coastal Magazine

Fall/Winter 2023

Letter From the Editor

BLUE ECONOMY, GREEN JOBS

I remember a career day at my high school when a forester came and spoke to a classroom full of sophomores about his job.

I was convinced for a day or two afterwards that I, too, would become a forester, happily spending my days in the woods saving the environment.

It’s as well that I didn’t, because in my imagination, it was always a pleasant fall day in which I was plying my trade. I’m not sure the forester ever described how he coped with freezing Januaries or sweltering Augusts.

Fortunately for our communities here in Rhode Island, the people featured in this issue are made of tougher stuff than I am. Whether painstakingly arranging hundreds of tiny shells to form a sailor’s valentine, hauling oyster cages out of the water, boarding a ship at sea for an inspection, planting  trees, captaining a sailing vessel, or advocating for their community, these folks are working incredibly hard.

Yet they describe loving their jobs or the accomplishments they’ve made, as well as giving and receiving help along the way.

As always, I am grateful to our writers and photographers for taking us readers inside the worlds of activists, sailors, artists, oyster farmers, and so many others.

I’ve learned how people in these varied professions and vocations are looking to the future and sustaining resources, communities, and our world.

Dive in!

—Monica Allard Cox, Editor