Capt. Messer-Bookman holds her USCG Unlimited Master’s License, Oceans and is a Professor Emerita from California Maritime Academy. She authored the Master’s Handbook on Ship’s Business (3rd ed.) and Maritime Casualties: Causes and Consequences, both Cornell Maritime Press, and was a contributing author to the 2019 edition of The American Practical Navigator (Bowditch), as well as several articles for various publications. She is also a maritime expert witness and consultant and a (non-practicing) attorney. She currently teaches license preparation courses and volunteers as an instructor for the US Power Squadron. She lives with her husband and two bull terriers in Gig Harbor, WA.