Woods Holley, Massachusetts — New Bedford residents, 7th grade students from a nearby school, two representatives of Congressman Bill Keating’s office and media members all got to tour the 72-foot research vessel Gloria Michelle Thursday at State Pier in New Bedford. NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center uses it for scientific studies of fisheries.

Gloriamichele, named in honor of a former NOAA employee, has undergone significant upgrades over time, remaining mostly unchanged with only her hull and name remaining original. Gloria Michelle can now be found along the Northeast coast of North America from Virginia to Canada and typically spends no more than five days at sea at any one time. Gloria Michelle boasts two permanent crewmembers from NOAA Corp; one serves as officer-in-charge while managing it both while underway and managing port activities; the second acts as junior officer.

Anna-Liza Villard-Howe and Shannon Hefferan joined Gloria Michelle as its officers-in-charge in June, marking NOAA’s inaugural all-female research vessel crew. Since then they have been hard at work learning all aspects of Gloria Michelle as well as planning major voyages, including groundfish and shrimp surveys in Massachusetts waters.

Gallagher grew up on Cape Cod and relishes spending his time off work surfing, fishing, diving and reading outdoors in the sun. After graduating from Sandwich High School and Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA), his goal is to become a deck officer aboard one or more NOAA ships.