Women’s History Month at WHOI

Trailblazers
At 14, Mitzi Crane fell in love with Jacques Cousteau, which inspired her to study marine biology and French in college. After several years in banking, a well-timed seminar in personal planning led her to realize she didn’t want to work in a cubicle anymore, and she enrolled in Maine Maritime Academy. In 1999, after crewing on tankers and bulk carriers, Crane applied to work at WHOI. Where women were once forbidden, Crane, shown here returning to Woods Hole in 2011, now commands. As chief mate and relief master of R/V Atlantis, Crane has sailed with “thousands of Jacques,” a large and growing number of them women.(Photo by Jayne Doucette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)