Moving forward to the 21st Century, our own Ben Kelsey, the founder of Kelsey Island Ocean Farm, is an anthropologist and ocean farmer specializing in the New England region’s various adaptations to the sea. Ben has worked on the crew of tall ships (including the schooner Amistad), grew up repairing boats at Kelsey Boat Yard (which he still does seasonally), and has also worked as a lobsterman on the Sound at various points in his life. Prior to getting his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in anthropology and archaeology, he graduated from the Sound School in New Haven, where he learned the fundamental concepts of aquaculture production. He spent the first twenty years of his career working as a professional archaeologist, often closely with indigenous communities to preserve America’s cultural resources for future generations.

Living in the coastal community of Short Beach in Branford, CT, Ben witnessed the damage being exacted by climate change, back-to-back hurricanes, sea level and sea temperature rise, and a collapsing lobster fishery in Long Island Sound decimating thousands of jobs in the states of Connecticut and New York. Seeing this perilous situation unfold in real-time, Ben took his preservationist philosophy and background of living and working on the water and applied it to the sea that he holds dear and the community he loves, to fight back against the worst effects of these climate change processes and provide vital resources, sustainable food, economic opportunities and jobs for his coastal community. In addition to his own Kelsey Island Ocean Farm endeavors, he now works as the farm and infrastructure manager for Greenwave, a non-profit organization that provides a network and resources for regenerative ocean farms across the globe.