Team
Capt. Richard Sanders headshot photo

Capt Richard Sanders

Navigator
Captain
United States Coast Guard Academy

Captain Rich Sanders is a Professor of Chemistry. During his Coast Guard career he has served as a Deck Watch Officer, in Marine Safety, and since 1995 has been a faculty member at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Part of the Permanent Commissioned Teaching Staff, he has taught General, Organic, Inorganic, and Analytical Chemistry, and has directed student research in organometallic synthesis. In addition, he has served as the Science Department Chair, the Associate Dean, and as the Director of the Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy. Through more than a decade of leadership in the Academy’s Coastal Sail Training program, CAPT Sanders helped more than 600 cadets hone their sailing, navigation, and seamanship skills aboard 44’ yawls. As a NAUI instructor, CAPT Sanders teaches basic and advanced SCUBA at the Academy and is a champion of cadet subsea and subsurface awareness. He currently oversees cadet corrosion studies of sunken legacy vessels, applications for Scientific Diving, and deployment of portable Remotely Operated Vehicles.

Captain Sanders graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Science. He earned a Masters and Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Connecticut under the direction of Professor U.T. Mueller-Westerhoff. 

"I am eager to make my first cruise aboard the E/V Nautilus - to learn, to contribute, and to share through telepresence. I am especially proud to be part of a team that is focused on our future–sparking curiosity, an excitement for learning, and inspiring young people to seek and discover their own potential by including them in this process"

Expeditions

Capt. Richard participated in the following Ocean Exploration Trust expeditions: