alumni news
Pierce Giamportone’s adventurous spirit has taken him from Pennsylvania to Suffolk to the far reaches of the western Pacific as a commissioned ensign with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). After earning his BS in mathematics in 2019, Giamportone worked at Suffolk for several years as a residence-life director. In 2023, eager to use his STEM and leadership skills in a new environment, he applied on a whim to NOAA Corps, one of the federal government’s eight uniformed services.
After a yearlong application process and a four-month officer-training course, Giamportone became a commissioned officer responsible for collecting scientific data in some of the world’s most remote environments on the Rainier, a NOAA survey vessel.
Giamportone’s primary assignment was conducting hydrographic surveys—mapping the seafloor to identify hazards and update nautical charts—work that helps protect ships, coastal communities, and marine ecosystems. He traveled to Guam, Hawaii, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Alaska, mapping Glacier Bay National Park to update century-old nautical charts and increase cruise ship safety.
“I loved the adventure of it,” he says, “and the fact that my labor is going into something that is objectively for the public good. I like that the work I was doing served the country and advanced scientific understanding of the world.”
Now he’s back on dry land, in Southern Califonia. Spending 300 days at sea wasn’t sustainable for his personal life. (“I think I saw my fiancée a total of a week and a half for an entire year,” he says.) Next up: Working as a project manager for Lockheed Martin, where he will help develop innovative aerospace machines. The adventure continues. —Kara Baskin
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spring 2026
Pierce Giamportone, BS ’19 (far right), traveled from Guam to Alaska with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Photograph courtesy of NOAA
