UNF graduate student opens opportunities for Navy officers in ocean engineering

When Megan Dunton, a lieutenant commander in the US Navy, was put in charge of leading the port damage repair unit for the Navy in 2020, her position hadn't previously existed.

She oversaw working with military construction workers, big cranes and large machinery as well as divers in the water to build a bulkhead at Camp Pendleton.

"The port damage repair unit was new territory, and I had to design and implement solutions as I experienced challenges in the field," said Dunton.

She realized she and other civil engineers in the Navy needed a better understanding of how the ocean interacts with facilities onshore.

The Navy's Civil Engineer Corps has been sending dive officers to UNF's coastal and port engineering graduate program since 2017. After Dunton's request, the Navy opened two annual opportunities for Civil Engineer Corps officers who are non-divers to pursue ocean engineering degrees. She was the first one to apply.

Dunton will graduate this fall from UNF with her master's in coastal and port engineering.

About a dozen of the Navy's best and brightest officers in its Ocean Facilities Program have come to UNF for a master's degree to learn innovative coastal resiliency and construction methods. Navy officers have their choice of schools around the country, but many pick UNF due to its high caliber program and proximity to the ocean, NAS Jacksonville and the Navy base at Mayport.

Dreams on hold

Dunton received her bachelor's in civil engineering from the University of Dayton in Ohio in 2002. At a job fair event, she remembers seeing a Navy booth with the phrase "Join the Navy and see the world." For a girl from Ohio who grew up loving to visit the Florida coast, joining the Navy was like a dream come true.

However, her Navy dreams were put on hold when her mom got sick with breast cancer.

She stayed at home in Columbus, Ohio to help her mom through cancer treatment. She worked for eight years at a small consulting firm as a transportation engineer designing roadways, sidewalks, street lighting and storm sewers. During that time, she finished a master's degree in urban planning at The Ohio State University and got her Professional Engineer (PE) license.

After not being considered for another position in the company, Dunton started thinking about a career change.

Her mother, now in remission from cancer, suggested she give her Navy dreams another chance.

She enlisted as a sailor and went to boot camp even though she already had two degrees.

"I was raised to believe that you start at the bottom and work your way up," said Dunton. "I spent three years enlisted with the United States Naval Construction Battalions (Seabees) and absolutely loved working in the field and the hands-on construction projects."

Dunton did one tour in Afghanistan while enlisted, came home and put in an application for officer candidate school, got accepted and got commissioned in 2013. She spent six years in Washington DC and completed three tours at Camp David, Walter Reed, and the Washington Navy Yard.

After she left DC, she went to California to serve as an officer in the Seabees. After two years in the Seabees leading the port damage repair unit and one year in Hawaii as an admiral's aide, her next mission was to enroll last fall as a graduate student at UNF.

Coming to UNF

Dunton picked UNF largely to be near her 90-year-old grandma, who lives in Ponte Vedra. Her grandparents had a big role in raising her because her dad was a busy police officer who worked two jobs, and her mom often worked late nights. She has fond memories of vacations in Jacksonville when she was young and couldn't wait to return to the northeast Florida shores.

For her thesis, she worked with Dr. Rapheal Crowley, UNF Taylor Engineering Research Institute professor, and other Navy students on a microbially induced calcite precipitation project that uses naturally occurring bacteria to harden the sand and make it stronger against erosion. Her research focuses on the relationship between surface area that's going to be treated and how much of the treatment to use to prevent coastal erosion on intracoastal waterways or beaches.

After graduating this fall, Dunton's next orders are in Jacksonville at Mayport as the facilities engineering and acquisition director.

"I look forward to continuing to work to improve the shorelines in Jacksonville and hope to encourage the Civil Engineer Corps to support graduate program research projects that will promote coastal resilience and sustainability," said Dunton.

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