La Barre, who spent a little over four years as the special collections librarian at Alpena County Library, started his new job on May 28 as a historian for the State of Michigan, based at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena.

“I’m a historian for the State of Michigan, underneath the division of Michigan History Center,” La Barre explained. “I’m on the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary team, but I represent a partnership with the state and NOAA itself, because this is a joint operation, where both the state and NOAA work together.”

He said the new job lines up well with his career goals. He has an education in maritime history.

“I think it was an amazing career opportunity to come back to this sanctuary,” La Barre said. “Because I did my thesis out of here, so I worked a lot with the team here, so I knew a lot of the employees that are here that make this place so special.”

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Sarah Morrison is the new media and outreach support specialist at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Making the move to the sanctuary was something he could not pass up.

“There’s just so much opportunity for career growth, and personal and professional growth,” he said. “It just felt a very natural transition to make.”

La Barre explained his duties as historian.

“I help with interpretive planning, exhibit building, research, helping out with educational outreach and community outreach programs,” he said. “And helping with the overall visitor experience.”

La Barre received his undergraduate degree in anthropology from St. Mary’s College in California, and then he earned his master’s degree in maritime archaeology from Flinders University in Australia.

Andrea “Andi” Yoxsimer also started on May 28 as a resource protection specialist.

Prior to Alpena, she was working in the South Pacific Ocean.

“I was working aboard NOAA ship Rainier, which is a hydrographic survey vessel,” Yoxsimer said. “We were mostly in American Samoa in the South Pacific, doing sea floor mapping.”

She explained the responsibilities of a resource protection specialist.

“We work primarily to help manage the shipwreck sites, develop new management strategies, work with the buoys, as well as help with some education and outreach,” Yoxsimer said.

She received her undergraduate degrees in biology and anthropology from the University of Reno. She earned her master’s degree in maritime archaeology from East Carolina University.

“I love to dive, and I love archaeology,” Yoxsimer said, adding that maritime archaeology is the perfect fit for her. “I’ve always heard such great things about Thunder Bay, and the amazing resources up here, so when I read the job description … I was so excited about it.”

She added that the sanctuary provides so many educational and recreational opportunities for the public to enjoy.

“I think there’s a lot that sanctuary offers, outside of the glass bottom boat, which is a great experience, and the museum, which is great,” Yoxsimer said. “Such as, we just had a photogrammetric workshop here, which is basically making 3D models out of shipwrecks. And, it’s something that the public has access to, through our website … It’s just another example of the innovative and interesting ways that we’re trying to make these sites more accessible to people.”

Sarah Morrison is the new media and outreach support specialist at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

“I moved to Alpena in 2007, from the Flint area originally,” Morrison said. “I went to college at Western Michigan University, and I wanted to work in broadcasting and journalism, so I came to WBKB, and that’s what brought me to Alpena. I had never been to Alpena before … Eventually, I fell in love with the whole area.”

She also fell in love with her husband, Chris, who hails from Alpena and works as a lieutenant at the Alpena Fire Department. They have two young children, Oz and Odessa.

“I’ve always been wowed by this place,” she said of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

She’s excited to be a part of the sanctuary team.