DR. BRIGHAM, an oceanographer, is a researcher at the International Arctic Research Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  During his Coast Guard career he commanded four cutters, including the icebreaker  USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11) on Arctic and Antarctic voyages.

 

Articles by Lawson Brigham

At 44 nautical miles wide, the Bering Strait is the only maritime corridor and chokepoint between North America and Asia with access to the Arctic Ocean.

New Challenges for the Bering Strait

By Captain Lawson Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
May 2024
The Bering Strait is a narrow, international strait that separates Chukotka in Russia’s Far East from Alaska, the only chokepoint between North America and the Arctic Ocean.
On this map, 200–nautical mile exclusive economic zones are shown in light blue, and the high seas, which will be covered by the new treaty, are in dark blue.

High Seas Treaty on Marine Biological Diversity

By Captain Lawson W. Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
September 2023
The new treaty is underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which defines coastal state jurisdiction and establishes the international high seas.
Ships from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Future Challenges for the Baltic Sea

By Captain Lawson W. Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
May 2023
The environmental security challenges in the Baltic Sea will likely intensify in the decades ahead with increasing marine traffic and regional warming.
shipping container

Green Corridors for Global Shipping

By Captain Lawson W. Brigham, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
September 2022
Recognizing an urgent need for action on climate issues, the International Maritime Organization has mandated GHG emissions be reduced by 50 percent for all vessels by 2050.