ROZALIA PROJECT

Our mission is to clean and protect the ocean. we operate from the 60' sailing research vessel, American Promise and dockside locations all over. Our mission is to clean and protect our ocean through scientific research, outreach, education, and cleanups. We are based in Vermont, but our home is our 60 ft. sustainable oceanic research vessel called American Promise based in the Gulf of Maine. Rozalia Project's mission is to clean and protect the ocean. We launched in 2010 with a focus on the problem of marine debris in an unique and action based way, addressing the entire water column and using a combination of restoration (taking trash out of the water, rather than just pointing at it), prevention through education and by conducting solutions-based research. Over the past years, we removed over 950,000 pieces of trash from our waterways, reached over 50,000 people of all ages and all backgrounds in direct programs all over the US; built an ongoing reach of another potential 30,000 through our online education program and worked or are currently working with over 150 community and education partner schools and organizations. Rozalia Project is a pioneer in the use of underwater technology to address marine debris using remotely operated vehicles (underwater robots) to discover what kind and how much trash sits on the seafloor and clean it up while connecting people to the underwater world right at their feet, in real time. Rozalia Project is also at the leading edge using drones to understand marine debris distribution and concentration and in conducting solutions-based research with ongoing data collection in urban and coastal waters. May through October, we operate from the record-breaking circumnavigator, American Promise, primarily in the Gulf of Maine out of our summer expedition base, the Kittery Point Yacht Yard in Kittery, ME. Throughout the remainder of the year, we work from partner vessels and waterfronts nationwide. Rozalia Project is proud to be making American Promise the greenest sailing research vessel in the world using systems that recreational boaters can replicate including a Tier 3 Marine Diesel engine; solar, wind and hydro power to charge house bank batteries, foot pumps for the water system, using 100% biodegradable soaps, a zero trash overboard policy and more. Highlights from the marine debris program to date include: Recovering 536,620 pieces of marine debris from shorelines in areas of Vermont affected by Hurricane Irene while putting 41 people who lost their homes or jobs because of the flooding, back to work. Including over 90 interns and guest scientists onboard American Promise giving young people a significant boost toward entering fields in marine education, conservation and research. Sarah Kollar, a senior from Eckerd College, now a Trash Free Seas Coordinator for the Ocean Conservancy, wrote the following in her post-internship survey, “I feel differently about how I look at our oceans and waterways... it has never felt more rewarding to pick up a piece of trash. The more you know about the harm it could potentially cause, the better it feels to remove it... After the internship, I feel more independent, flexible, spontaneous, creative and pro-active."