Meet Our Staff
Sheryl Christy Gilmore, Executive Director
Sheryl Christy Gilmore is the owner and Executive Director of Sea Star Explorations and the person who oversees and designs our travel programs. She has over 40 years of experience leading environmental science and oceanography programs. For 33 years, Sherry was the owner and Executive Director of the Acadia Institute of Oceanography in Seal Harbor, Maine. She began offering marine travel programs for AIO students in 1993 and has taken students to Florida, Bermuda, Jamaica and Belize every year since. For fifteen years, she taught and directed environmental education programs in southern Maine and Massachusetts. Additional experiences include teacher training and teaching marine biology on Puget Sound, teaching marine science in the local schools, writing curriculum for classroom teachers and working to bring the outdoors into the classroom. She holds her B.A. & teaching certification from Kalamazoo College in Michigan, and has completed master’s course work in ASL and Science Education. Sherry is also first aid and PADI certified. For the last decade she has worked with the Ocean Conservancy in Washington, DC to share work and lobby congress on important ocean issues.
Jim Gilmore, Director of Cultural Programming
Jim Gilmore, Director of Cultural Programming, is a documentary filmmaker and college professor. He has been in the classroom for over 25 years, as both a professor and visiting filmmaker of communication and cinematic arts at Flagler College and as a clinical professor of journalism and screen studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Prior to his career in academia he worked as a producer and director in broadcasting for 10 years. Gilmore currently serves as the executive producer of Acadia Pictures, a non-fiction production company he established in 1997 and is the co-director of the St Auggie Shorts Film Festival in Saint Augustine, Florida. He holds a M.A. in broadcasting and film from the University of Iowa and a B.A. in theatre arts and political science from Kalamazoo College. His most recent documentary film, Fielding Dreams: A Celebration of Baseball Scouts, is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Griffin Gilmore, International Program Development
Griffin Gilmore, who develops international programming for Sea Star Explorations, graduated with his B.A in Japanese language and culture from Eastern Michigan University and is now based out of Tokyo where he teaches elementary and middle school students, bringing a unique intercultural perspective to his role as an educator. Previously, Griffin worked for ten years at the Acadia Institute of Oceanography and has participated in its winter travel programs. Starting with the Japan program, Griffin continues searching for additional international marine destinations for our students that we look forward to offering to you in the near future.
Grace Gilmore Shepperd, Director of Communication
Grace Shepperd has spent many summers working with students as a teaching staff, intern coordinator and chef at AIO. She has also taught in our previous Florida programs. She graduated from Kalamazoo College in Michigan with her B.A. and from Sarah Lawrence College in NY with her M.F.A. Grace is a professional actor, stage manager, lighting designer and has performed at the Kennedy Center, studied theatre in London, and spent two seasons as a principal acting member at the Mercury Store in NYC. After a year at Loyola University in Maryland in the Career Center, Grace is now a Professor of Theatre teaching stage management at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Eric Shepperd, Social Media Manager
Eric Shepperd is the Social Media Manager for Sea Star Explorations and is a graduate of Towson University in Maryland with his BA in Electronic media and Film. He has worked at a few different television stations and is currently working as a Market Specialist in advertising at CBS in New York. He is an avid wrestling fan and blogs for a wrestling website. He obviously loves sports (and his hometown Ravens) but also enjoys improv, reading and trivia.
Kathy Dubbs, Program Staff
Kathy Dubbs has taught oceanography and geology in a variety of ecosystems for over 35 years. With a B.A. in Biology from Kalamazoo College in Michigan and a M.S. in Geology from Stephen F. Austin University in Texas, Kathy is currently teaching Geology and Oceanography at Blinn College in Bryan, Texas. She is also the co-Program Director at AIO. Previously a teacher/ program director for an environmental center in New England as well as an instructor of tropical marine ecology in Florida, Kathy has also taught in our travel programs. She is PADI & Life Guard certified. Her interests include hiking, running, birding and wildlife conservation. Each spring, she volunteers for the National Park Service patrolling for nesting sea turtles along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Tim Dubbs, Program Staff
Timothy Dubbs has taught in nearly all of the student travel programs during his 30 years as a teaching staff and Co-Director of Programs at AIO so we are pleased he will be also joining us at Sea Star to continue. He has a B.S. in Environmental Geology from the U. of Mississippi, a M.S. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Anthropology from the U. of Texas, Dallas. Tim has also taught and directed in science field programs in New York and Texas. He spent 25 years as a core teacher at Houston's ISD's Outdoor Education Center and has been a classroom science teacher within the Texas public school system. Tim devotes much time and effort to environmental issues including sea turtle conservation and wilderness preservation. He is a PADI certified scuba diver and a YMCA trained lifeguard.
Bruce Stephens, Program Staff
Bruce Stephen has worked on the student travel programs since 1994 when he began working summers at AIO. He earned his BS in Biology from SUNY College at Cortland, his Master's of Science in Biology/Marine Biology from the University of Massachusetts and his Ph.D in Applied Ecology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Bruce spent 16 years teaching college level Biology, Genetics and Marine Biology in Lincoln, Nebraska, and has since taught marine science and statistics at Unity Environmental College in Maine. He publishes about marine science topics in self-published books that can be found at Amazon. He also works with exemplary high school students to design and implement research projects. Most recently, he returned to his alma mater as a visiting professor of biology. When he's not working in academics, Bruce works with disabled adults, teaches drumming and plays drums in his band, Tolerating Bob. One of their songs just hit 1000 streams on Spotify so check them out!
Christopher (CJ) Cayo, Program Staff
Chris (or CJ) has worked with students at AIO and on our winter trips to Belize and Florida since the early 2000’s. . He lives in Miami, Florida in the summer and sometimes winters in Colorado so he can partake in two of his favorite past times: diving and skiing. CJ has extensive SCUBA experience and specializes in mangroves. He’s been a salt water aquarist since he was very young and has worked with water and land animals all of his life. During the off season, CJ works with injured youth and veterans, teaching sailing and other water related activities.
Alicia Navarrete, Program Staff
Alicia Navarrete is one of the current Directors of AIO and has taught in several of the winter programs as well. Alicia has extensive teaching experience, including 8 years with the Houston ISD Outdoor Education Center, the Rochester Rotary Sunshine Campus for students with disabilities, Little Tree Education (a Montessori school), and Kinderker (a bilingual pre-school in Nicaragua). She has a BS in Elementary Education from SUNY Oswego. Currently, Alicia is a Senior Faciliatator at the Princeton-Blairstown center, which provides adventure-based, experiental education to youth from historically marginalized communities. Alicia is a certified ACCT Level II practitioner, a wilderness first aid responder and a certified lifeguard. She loves to travel and relishes outdoor activities of any and all sorts, performing basic carpentry and going to movies.
Steven Gourley, Program Staff
Steven Gourley has his B.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of Southern Mississippi and was a student and is now a staff member at AIO for the past 5 summers. In addition, he is a teaching assistant at USM and works for the Center for STEM education to increase STEM involvement for middle and high school students in the state. Steven its also on the education committee for the Sawfish Conservation Society to increase international protections for sawfish and has been volunteering at the Hattiesburg Zoo, working closely with zoo keepers to care for the animals. He was a staff member on our latest Florida program and he looks forward to joining us for many more.
Mikayla Barnwell, Program Staff
Mikayla Barnwell has been a student, an intern and now a staff member at AIO for several summers while she completed her B.S. from Coastal Caroline University and Roger Williams College and her Masters in Tropical Conservation Biology from the University of Hawaii in Hilo. While she continues to reside in Hawaii working for NOAA on coral reef restoration, Mikayla has traveled extensively for her work in marine science: St. Croix, Dominican Republic, Roatan and Bermuda to name a few. Mikayla is PADI certified and looks forward to sharing her work with the Sea Star participants!
Watch for more staff to join our programs!
