Meet Remy Luerssen, ISAT Grad

In 1999 Remy Luerssen graduated from the ISAT program with a concentration in Environmental Science (and as a founding member of the ISAT Honor Society).  The ISAT program prepared Remy with a unique set of skills that were particularly suited for a graduate degree in Oceanography.  At the University of Maine, Remy completed a Masters degree in Oceanography with a focus on using satellite data to better understand red tides in the Gulf of Maine. 

After graduate school, Remy worked as a lab manager of the Phytoplankton and Optics Lab at the University of Maine marine field station, the Darling Center.  Her work with remotely sensed images of chlorophyll concentration was coupled with research on phytoplankton culturing and optical measurements of ocean color.  At the Darling Center, she got involved in educational efforts in local schools.  When Remy relocated to Florida and began working at the Institute for Marine Remote Sensing at the University of South Florida – St Petersburg, she also became involved in training teachers on GIS and Remote Sensing and advocating ocean policy.  She also continued her research on ocean productivity using satellite imagery.

Now, Remy has come full circle and is now living in the Shenandoah Valley once again and working in the ISAT department at JMU.  She is the Director of Education and Outreach for the VCERC-Virginia Center for Wind Energy based at JMU.  Her research focus is on offshore wind energy, specifically GIS mapping to understand where off the coast of Virginia it is possible to develop wind farms.  She also facilitates education and outreach to K12 schools around the state on alternative energy, specifically wind. 

“Before I came to JMU I was researching problems and now I get to focus on the solutions,” says Remy.  The ultimate goal of Remy’s work in the wind industry is to educate the future workforce and to ensure that offshore wind projects are sited correctly, with as little impact to the marine environment as possible.