Meet the Staff

Fred Sitkins became our organization’s second executive director in 2013, but he was involved with ISEA during its infancy in the ‘90s. Before we had a ship of our own, we chartered the tall ship Malabar, which Fred helped crew! After receiving his Bachelor of Elementary Education and Masters of Educational Administration, Fred went on to become a teacher and later the principal at Boyne City Elementary. It isn’t often that someone has the opportunity to see his or her life come full circle, and Fred is excited to be at the helm of ISEA after it inspired him so early in life.

Outside of running the organization, Fred enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons playing hockey, fishing, sailing, and mountain biking.

Lanae joined ISEA in 2026, bringing over seven years of nonprofit expertise to the team. A Traverse City native, she grew up with a deep affinity for the waters of West Grand Traverse Bay, a passion that now fuels her professional mission. Lanae holds a B.S. in Dietetics with a minor in Health Promotion from Michigan State University. With six years of experience in program coordination and nutrition education, Lanae has worked with everyone from pre-K students to senior citizens. Her background in grant writing and systems change reflects her commitment to creating healthier, more accessible environments. At ISEA, she is eager to build lasting partnerships that secure the future of Great Lakes stewardship.

When she isn’t protecting our regional waters, Lanae can be found playing pickleball, paddleboarding, or cooking with her husband and their miniature poodle.

Rosali Collier, a Suttons Bay local, joined the ISEA team in 2025. With a lifelong passion for the outdoors and the Great Lakes, she brings a wealth of experience and a love for her Northern Michigan roots. Rosali holds degrees in Audiology and Speech Sciences from Michigan State University and Elementary Education from Grand Valley State University, which she applies to her work as a passionate educator. Her professional background is diverse, including roles as an associate teacher at Suttons Bay Public Schools, a 4-H coordinator with MSU Extension, and an office manager with Northwestern Michigan College with their Student Success and Retention department. She’s excited to be part of the ISEA team as it allows her to combine her two passions: education and experiential learning.

In her free time, Rosali enjoys working in her yard, reading, and spending time outdoors with her son, husband, and dogs.

Lia’s journey with ISEA began in 2013 on the schooner Inland Seas as a Schoolship participant, and her experience out on the water sparked her curiosity and love for the Great Lakes. After graduating from Grand Valley State University with a degree in Wildlife Biology, she worked for the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy on their field crew for a season. Lia returned to ISEA as an intern before joining the team full-time in 2025 and is thrilled to be working again with the organization that helped set sail her passion for stewardship and freshwater ecology. She is excited to share her enthusiasm for the Great Lakes with others and looks forward to creating memorable experiences with participants on the water and ashore.

If you can’t find Lia on the boat or in the office, she is probably tucked away with a good book and her dog Mia, working on her stationery business, or enjoying the great outdoors.

Ben was one of our early interns in 1997. After receiving his Bachelor of Zoology, he helped crew and sail tall ships not only in our Great Lakes but in the oceans as well. Ultimately, Ben came back to join our staff in 2012 because he believes in our mission of protecting the Great Lakes through education.

After a long day of captaining our schooner Inland Seas, Ben goes home to his wife and son (a practical carbon copy of Ben, we’re sure!) and daughter to relax and play the fiddle.

Julie joined the ISEA team in May 2024. Growing up in Michigan, she has always loved all things water, whether that be swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling, or beach rock hunting. She attended Michigan State University for her Bachelor of Science in Zoology and her Master of Science in Community Sustainability. Prior to joining ISEA, she has held a variety of positions, including working as a research assistant in a limnology lab, a park ranger at Sleeping Bear Dunes with their piping plover crew, and as the coordinator for an ecology-based afterschool program for high school students in Benzie County.

In her free time, Julie can be found watching birds, gardening, cooking, laying on the beach, or cozying up at home with her husband, cat, and dog.

Juliana joined ISEA in 2019. Growing up in Leland, MI, she spent many hours in, on, or around the Great Lakes and is excited to return to her northern Michigan roots. Juliana received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from Denison University and her Master of Science degree in Environmental Behavior, Education, and Communication from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. She brings her past experience in the non-profit sector, environmental education, and coastal communities research to her job at ISEA.

Outside of work you can find Juliana exploring the outdoors through hiking, canoeing, and growing vegetables.

Jess grew up in Suttons Bay, and one of his first jobs was as a cook aboard schooner Inland Seas, where he was responsible for burning popcorn in the galley and forcing an evacuation to the deck. Twice.

After a stint on the Maintenance crew at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore and graduating from the University of Michigan with a journalism focus, he worked around the world as a cheesemonger until moving home in 2009 to start a vegetable farm and farm dinner business, Bare Knuckle Farm. His farming also led him to education, where he worked at the Career Tech Center for the non-profit SEEDS, teaching a biweekly all-day experiential agriculture class.

When not thinking out loud, Jess enjoys parenting, woodcarving, and relaxing with long, fat fantasy and sci-fi novels. Sometimes when the passion strikes, he writes about science and history. Currently, he is obsessed with the history of Passenger Pigeons and Beech trees in our region.

Skyler joined ISEA in 2025. She hails from the heart of Appalachia in Western North Carolina and has a degree in Political Science from UNC-Chapel Hill. Before ISEA, Skyler worked as a Park Ranger with the National Park Service. As a ranger, she focused on encouraging people to be passionate and excited about public lands and waters. Working in ISEA’s backyard at Sleeping Bear Dunes, she fell in love with everything about the Great Lakes. As a creative storyteller dedicated to community and stewardship, she is thrilled to work for ISEA to help promote Great Lakes resiliency.

In her free time, you can find Skyler telling anyone who will listen about quagga mussels (and why they are horrible), participating in all kinds of outdoor recreation, baking treats for friends and family, and spending as much time as possible on a body of water.

Chris started with ISEA in 2024, and is thrilled to be back in his home state of Michigan. He attended Michigan State University studying Education and Environmental Science, before leaving the state for seven years to work as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service. He is deeply passionate about creating memorable experiences in non-traditional classrooms, from the Grand Canyon backcountry to sailing up the California coast on a 16th century Spanish galleon, and now at ISEA helping people find new ways to appreciate just how special our Great Lakes are.

Outside of work, Chris loves to enjoy everything the turning of the seasons has to offer, playing team sports, and doing his absolute best to appease his cat, Piccolo.

Seth Mathews was raised in Three Rivers, MI, spending countless hours on and in the water. From irrigation ponds to Lake Michigan, you can always find Seth near the water. A graduate of Cornerstone University, Seth’s first experience aboard a tall ship was on the Friends Good Will with the Michigan Maritime Museum. More recently, Seth has sailed the eastern seaboard with the Liberty Fleet, the AJ Meerwald, helping to run educational programs, and the Manitou right here in Grand Traverse Bay.

When not sailing, Seth enjoys cooking new dishes and watching weird shows and movies.

Grayson grew up on a farm in central Ohio and went on to study horticulture at Miami University (also in Ohio), graduating with a Bachelor of Science in botany. Her background is agriculture, and she spent two and a half years growing organic culinary herbs in the Shenandoah Valley. She came to Inland Seas as a deckhand to follow a long-time passion for the history and culture of sailing. It helps that Grayson also has an interest in natural resources outreach and education, fitting in perfectly with the ISEA mission.

When she isn’t sailing, scrubbing, or otherwise occupied with work, Grayson enjoys knitting and is attempting to learn how to play the fiddle.

Joe Ramey is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He studied English, Poetry, and Native American history at the University of Nebraska before transferring to Michigan State University to complete his undergraduate degree in Art and Creative Writing. Joe later earned a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), specializing in Behavior, Education, and Communication alongside Ecosystem Science and Management. Try saying all of that five times fast!

His professional background is as diverse as his education; he has worked as a native prairie grass technician/ecologist in Illinois, served as an outdoor camp director for the City of Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation department for four years, and worked in the nonprofit sector fabricating water filtration machines for vulnerable communities (water sovereignty for the win!). He also spent time as an organic farmer in rural Ireland through WWOOF and was, objectively, the least serious server at a fine dining Italian restaurant for nearly three years.

Joe is thrilled to be with ISEA because he believes in the transformative nature of experiential learning and has felt a deep sense of responsibility for the Great Lakes since the moment he learned what a fish was.

Outside of work, you can find Joe hiking, camping, and skiing. He is also an avid thrifter with an extensive collection of Michigan-related antiques and art.

Kevin joins Inland Seas with a wealth of maritime experience, having served on 10 different traditionally rigged vessels over the last five years. Originally from Temecula, CA, Kevin earned his B.S. in Biology from San Diego State University. Though he holds a 100-ton Inland Masters and a 200-ton Near Coastal Mate license, this season marks his very first time exploring the Great Lakes, and he is eager to experience what the lakes have to offer.

When he isn’t at the helm, Kevin is a dedicated creative. You can often find him blacksmithing, woodworking, and jewelry making, or working on computers.