Originally from Santa Rosa, California, CDR Futch graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 2003 with a B.S degree in Marine and Environmental Science and orders to USCGC Sassafras (WLB 401) home-ported in Apra Harbor Guam. In November 2003, USCGC Sassafras was decommissioned and the crew reported to Marinette Wisconsin to commission the brand new buoy tender USCGC Sequoia (WLB 215) and sail her back to Guam. In 2005, CDR Futch reported to the USCGC Maple (WLB 207) in Sitka, Alaska as Operations Officer. In 2007 CDR Futch was selected for the Coast Guard’s Advanced Education program in Oceanography, and in 2009 earned a M.S. degree in Oceanography from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. After completing graduate school, CDR Futch reported to the Coast Guard Academy. CDR Futch was selected for Permanent Commissioned Teaching Staff in 2011. She currently serves as an Associate Professor of Marine Science. In addition to teaching, CDR Futch is also an assistant coach for the women’s crew team, the faculty advisor for the USCGA Chapter of the Society for Women in Marine Science (SWMS) and science department internship co-coordinator.

Education

• Ph.D., Physical Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2019
• M.S., Physical Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2009
• B.S., Marine and Environmental Sciences, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 2003

Courses Taught

• Atmospheric and Marine Science
• Oceans I: Air and Sea
• Marine Forecasting
• Operational Oceanography
• Polar Oceanography

Professional Memberships

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• The Oceanography Society
• 500 Women Scientists
• Society for Women in Marine Science
• American Meteorological Society
• American Geophysical Union

Selected Publications and Presentations

• Futch, V. and Allen A., 2019. Search and Rescue Applications: On the Need to Improve Ocean Observing Data Systems in Offshore and Remote Locations. Front. Mar. Sci. 6:301. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00301
• Berkson, J., Woityra, W., Boda, K., Allen, A., Hicks, M., and Futch, V., 2019. The Role of Marine Science and Oceanography in the United States Coast Guard. Proc. Coast Guard J. Saf. Secur. Sea, 76, 21-29.
• Vlietstra, L., Mrakovcich, K., Futch, V., and Stutzman, B., 2016. Anthropogenic Climate Change in Undergraduate Marine and Environmental Science Programs in the United States. J. College Sci. Teaching, 45, 34-43.
• Brushett, B., Allen, A., Futch, V., King, B., and Lemckert, C., 2014. Determining the leeway drift characteristics of tropical pacific island craft. Appl. Ocean Res., 44, 92-101. doi: 10.1016/j.apor.2013.11.004