When Robbie Greene came to UW-Madison, he probably never thought it would lead to a job on a far-flung tropical archipelago with active volcanoes, but that’s just what happened. Greene, a landscape architecture major who had concentrated on urban agriculture, had not done much coastal work prior to coming to Madison. However, he always had a strong interest in the coastal environment, so when the chance to work with Wisconsin Sea Grant’s David Hart on the Wisconsin Coastal Atlas arose, Greene jumped at the chance.
For the Atlas, a project to develop a Web portal that contains data about the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior coasts of Wisconsin, Greene helped gather data involving beach access and hazards along the coasts. He also worked on other projects, such as developing digital elevation models for different Great Lakes harbors. Along the way, he met Kathy Johnson, a NOAA Coastal Management Fellow hired by Wisconsin Sea Grant.
“She described the fellowship as a wonderful opportunity,” said Greene. “I saw her network with different folks all over Madison. So it was in the back of my mind as a possibility.”
When Greene graduated with a master’s degree in landscape architecture this January he applied for the fellowship and moved to Tacoma, Wash., to pursue a coastal management job there in case the fellowship didn’t work out. Fortunately, it did. Greene recently returned from a fellow-matching workshop hosted by the NOAA Coastal Services Center in Charleston, S.C. During the week-long event, 11 candidates went through interviews and presentations for six fellowship positions.
Greene likened the stress of the situation to a reality TV show or a fraternity rush. “A few people were having trouble sleeping during the week,” he said. Greene went into the workshop hoping for a match on the Washington coast, but that changed. “It became apparent I was going to be a good match with the Mariana Islands program,” Greene said. This was because the work he would be doing for them closely matched the work he had done for Wisconsin Sea Grant.
Greene moves his possessions into storage, says good bye to friends and relatives, and leaves for Saipan Island at the end of July for two years. The group of 15 islands is officially a commonwealth of the United States, as is Puerto Rico. With the excitement in his voice borne of a new adventure, Greene admitted, “I have some learning to do before I go out there, and I’ve been told the office dynamic is a bit different than what I’m used to.”
We hope your adjustment to island time goes well, Robbie!
