Captain Lawson Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired), an oceanographer, is a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, and a researcher at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. During his Coast Guard career, he commanded four cutters, including the icebreaker Polar Sea (WAGB-11), on Arctic and Antarctic voyages.

Articles by Lawson Brigham

Polar Sea

Arctic Rendezvous

By Captain Lawson W. Brigham U. S. Coast Guard
January 1995
On 23 August 1994—one day after becoming the first Canadian and U.S. surface ships to reach the North Pole from the Alaskan coast—the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent ...
Wind turbines on the Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm, off the coast of Cumbria, England, in the Irish Sea.

Global Offshore Wind Energy: Emerging Ocean Use

By Captain Lawson W. Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
January 2021
The offshore wind industry is a newcomer to the use of the oceans and seabed when compared with historic maritime sectors such as fishing, shipping, and offshore hydrocarbon development.
Dependence on the sea for critical resources has been key in Japan’s development as a maritime nation.

Japan and the 21st-Century Oceans

By Captain Lawson Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
September 2020
The stakes are high for Japan as the world’s third largest economy and one of the nations most dependent on the oceans.
Coast Guard Academy cadets conduct their first day of the Coastal Sail Training Program on board a 44-foot sloop on the Thames River. Sail training has always been an essential part of the Academy’s training.

Training Under Sail in the 21st Century

By Captain Lawson W. Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
May 2020
Training under sail for future officers, whether on board a sailing dinghy, small keelboat, or square-rigged sailing vessel, has never been more important.
Sovcomflot

Russia Opens Its Maritime Arctic

By Captain Lawson W. Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
May 2011
The world can be nothing but optimistic about opening this formerly remote and closed region to international shipping.
U.S. Coast Guard (Patrick Kelley)

The Fast-Changing Maritime Arctic

By Captain Lawson W. Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
May 2010
An Arctic expert reviews current developments in the region involving, among other issues, more traffic and the polar melt.