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Biddeford

Four UNE marine program alumni land jobs with same seafood organization

UNE alums at Global Seafood Alliance
UNE alums Michail Bilek, Noelle Wisneski, Nicole Kunin, and Glorya Alexander

Four UNE alumni, Noelle Wisneski, B.A. ’19 (Marine Affairs), M.S. ’21 (Ocean Food Systems), Michail Bilek, B.A. ’18 (Ocean Studies and Marine Affairs), Nicole Kunin, B.A. ’19 (Marine Affairs), and Glorya Alexander, B.A. ’06 (Aquaculture and Aquarium Sciences), all landed at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, based Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) after graduating.

GSA advances responsible seafood practices worldwide through education, advocacy, and demonstration. The organization convenes seafood industry leaders, academia, and NGOs to collaborate on cross-cutting issues, such as environmental and social responsibility, animal health and welfare, food safety, and more. GSA is membership-driven with members that include certified producers, corporations, and individuals.

All four alumni are certification specialists responsible for different regions of the world. Their responsibilities involve customer service, which entails working with different aquaculture facilities, including farms, feed mills, hatcheries, and processing plants. They also work with clients to help them achieve Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification.

Wisneski is responsible for Chile, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the iBAP program.

“We each have country coordinators who help us with the facilities that we have in our respective countries,” Wisneski explained. “Having the ability to work with people around the world daily is very unique to GSA. One other thing that I enjoy is knowing that I can turn over a package of frozen shrimp in the grocery store, see the BAP logo, and know that I helped the facility from which the product originated get certified.”

Bilek is responsible for India and the Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard. Alexander works with the U.S., Canada, Vietnam, and Latin America. Kunin oversees China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

“I really enjoy being in a team environment where we work towards company-wide and global sustainability goals,” Kunin stated. “I also appreciate that we are working on projects to help gender equality in seafood globally.”

Bilek says his time at UNE prepared him well for his position.

“UNE prepared me through my internship at an oyster farm,” he said. “That was my first hands-on experience with aquaculture, and it opened me up to the world of seafood.”

All of the alumni came to Global Seafood Alliance to work by chance and at different times.

According to the alumni, the organization’s management told them, “GSA is thrilled to have identified and hired students from UNE and hopes to do so again in the future. The UNE program creates a unique learning environment and curriculum that aligns well with GSA’s mission.”

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.