Community Offshore Wind recently partnered with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center to organize a field trip for about a dozen students from New York to participate in an educational fishing trip. The offshore wind joint venture funded the trip for youth from environmental justice communities, designed to educate participants about the health and environmental benefits of sustainable fishing, and offer students a chance to learn about marine sciences and offshore wind.

The trip, facilitated in partnership with a local fishing charter, focused on increasing access to the health benefits of sustainable seafood and recreational fishing while highlighting the importance of coastal environments and fisheries firsthand, and future career possibilities in marine science and tourism. Community Offshore Wind team members participated in the trip and discussed sustainability, how students can prepare for opportunities in ocean science and related fields, and the interconnection between the offshore wind industry and a thriving marine environment.

“These field trips allow us to work alongside community partners to introduce students to STEM education early in their learning years, sparking a love of science and putting them on pathways to careers in clean energy,” said Pat Johnson, Vice President and Deputy Project Director of Community Offshore Wind. “The offshore wind industry is positioned to create thousands of new jobs across the Northeast, and we’re committed to ensuring New Yorkers who want to pursue these opportunities have the necessary skills and training. Today’s students will become tomorrow’s clean energy workforce, and these trips help build the fundamental knowledge and skills they’ll need to secure the good-paying careers our industry is creating across the region.”

As a part of this initiative, Community Offshore Wind also led fishing trips for about 30 students from All Things Are Possible Foundation (ATAP), located in Willingboro, New Jersey, building on the field trips the developer facilitated last year to offer additional children opportunities to learn about sustainable fishing and marine sciences.

The offshore wind industry in New York is expected to create more than 10,000 jobs across the state, but there is currently a shortage of workers with the skills necessary to qualify for those positions. A recent NYSERDA report found that training individuals from disadvantaged communities will be crucial to filling these gaps in the offshore wind workforce while improving social equity. Community Offshore Wind has made significant investments in programs that increase access to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and training programs that provide students from underrepresented communities with the knowledge and skills they will need for jobs in the offshore wind industry.

The fishing industry is an important stakeholder in the development of offshore wind in this region. Community Offshore Wind is committed to building relationships with local fishing communities and has developed collaborative partnerships and responsive strategies to support local fishing communities and promote coexistence between fisheries and offshore wind. Community Offshore Wind is the first offshore wind developer to sign a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), setting an industry standard for environmental monitoring for offshore wind projects and marine ecosystems.

Community Offshore wind is a joint venture of RWE and National Grid Ventures that will develop more than three gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind on the largest parcel in the New York Bight.