Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 Explorers
Andra Bobbitt
CIMRS Program, Oregon State University
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Andra Bobbitt has participated in over 35 research expeditions in 20 years of working in marine geology. Her work has involved processing acoustic navigation and multibeam bathymetry data, establishing an oceanographic geographic information system (GIS) and serving as the webmaster for the Vents program. She graduated from the University of California at San Diego in 1984 where she then began working at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In 1991 she moved to Oregon to work for the NOAA Vents Program. For the Ring of Fire expedition, she will serve as the Ocean Exploration Data Manager.
Sheryl Bolton
Research Technician
University of Washington
Sheryl is a research technician studying the microbiology of hydrothermal vent fluids. She will be focusing on culturing high temperature anaerobic microorganisms from venting fluids, as well as taking filtered water samples for DNA extraction and microscopic analyses. The University of Washington lab uses a combination of methods to try to understand this complex ecosystem. Sheryl will use hydrothermal fluids and the associated microbes as a window into the mysterious subsurface world. By studying the metabolisms (like what they eat) and growth conditions (like temperature and pressure) of these organisms, we can learn about the natural environment in which they live. The lab maintains a large collection of organisms isolated primarily from mid-ocean ridge vents around the world, but few are from systems like the Mariana arc. Using information obtained from DNA studies in 2004 she will attempt to culture particular groups of organisms (high temperature, low pH, sulfur-loving bugs) known to be present in the venting fluids, with the aim of finding new and potentially novel species.
Nathan Buck
Research Technician
JISAO Program, University of Washington
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Nathan received a B.S. in Marine Science, from Long Island University Southampton College in December 1999. He continued his education at Stony Brook University where he received a Master's degree in the environmental and coastal sciences. Since then, he has worked as an oceanographic research tech. During this cruise his main responsibility will be to collect samples for trace metals and carbon dioxide measurements from hydrothermal plumes.
Dave
Butterfield
Chemical Oceanographer
JISAO Program, University of Washington
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory – Seattle,
Washington
Dave Butterfield received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and German from Portland State University, served two years in the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa, and received a Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the University of Washington. His primary research interests concern the interaction of seawater with the solid crust in volcanic hydrothermal systems. Topics of special interest include the effects of boiling on hydrothermal fluids, role of magmatic volatiles in hydrothermal systems, evolution of hydrothermal systems over time, effects of volcanic eruptions, and the role of fluid chemistry in microbial ecology. Dave has sailed on 34 submersible expeditions to hydrothermal sites on the Juan de Fuca ridge, Southern East Pacific Rise, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Mariana volcanic arc, and Kermadec volcanic arc.
Bill
Chadwick
Geologist
CIMRS Program, Oregon State University
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory – Newport,
Oregon
Bill Chadwick studies volcanoes, both on land and underwater. He got hooked on volcanoes after Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, when he was a senior geology major at Colorado College. St. Helens became the focus of his graduate work at the University of California at Santa Barbara where he earned his PhD. His main interest during the 2006 Submarine Ring of Fire expedition is to investigate the eruptive behavior of the submarine volcanoes in the Mariana arc.
Rick Davis
Graduate Student
Western Washington University
Richard Davis is a graduate student in biology at Western Washington University with Dr. Craig Moyer. His research concentrates on microbial community diversity, emphasizing the spatial and temporal dynamics of microbial mat communities at hydrothermal vents. During this cruise, Richard will prepare samples of microbial mats for later DNA extraction, and will also attempt to culture novel chemoautotrophic microbes from the microbial mats.
Nick Deardorff
Graduate Student
University of Oregon
Nick Deardorff is a graduate student at the University of Oregon where he studies physical volcanology with Dr. Kathy Cashman. Nick received his B.S. in Marine Science and Geology at the University of Miami, FL. His primary interest for this cruise will be the physical and geochemical comparison of submarine and subaerial volcanic arcs.
Cornel
E.J. de Ronde
Geologist
Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences (GNS)
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Cornel de Ronde is a Principal Scientist at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS). He leads the "Offshore Minerals" part of the "Economic Growth for New Zealand through Mineral Wealth" program. The offshore minerals research has largely concentrated on seafloor hydrothermal vents associated with submarine arc volcanoes of the Kermadec arc, NE of New Zealand. This group was funded in late 2004 $4.9M over the following six years to continue their work which started in 1997. Since that time, de Ronde and colleagues at GNS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and elsewhere, have surveyed the entire Kermadec Arc (~1,300 km) and beyond into international and Tongan territorial waters, which they completed in Sept/Oct, 2004. They have surveyed around 35 major volcanoes and 8 smaller volcanic edifices. In Oct/Nov 2004, de Ronde and colleagues teamed up with Japanese scientists and dove for the first time anywhere along the arc, on Brothers volcano, with the JAMSTEC submersible Shinkai 6500. Then in April/May 2005, de Ronde and colleagues completed 23 dives on 9 different volcanoes using the submersible Pisces V as part of the NZASRoF expedition. De Ronde and colleagues have also participated on research cruises to map the Tofua (Tonga), Tabar-Lihir-Tanga-Feni (Papua New Guinea) and Mariana (Guam) Arcs, and the Ghizo Ridge (Solomon Islands) for submarine hydrothermal venting.
John Dower
Biological Oceanographer
University of Victoria
I've been fascinated by seamounts ever since I was offered a chance to study the genetic isolation of scallops on Cobb Seamount for my PhD. Although the genetic work didn't pan out in the end (just as well, too....I'm a klutz in the lab), it did cause me to look up from the benthos and consider how shallow seamounts come to support rich fish stocks. This "planktonic epiphany" lead me into biological oceanography and, more specifically, to the role of biophysical coupling in planktonic ecosystems. On this upcoming Submarine Ring of Fire cruise, I will be collecting samples of a new flatfish species that we discovered on the 2004 SROF cruise, and which seems to make a living by digesting bacteria from the sediments. As flatfish are not usually associated with vents, this is quite novel. In addition to my involvement with the SROF program, I am also on the scientific steering of "CenSeam" (the Census of Marine Life's seamounts component) which aims to determine the role of seamounts in the biogeography, biodiversity, productivity, and evolution of marine organisms.
Bob Embley
[ 
OceanAGE interview ]
Chief Scientist for the Submarine Ring of Fire Expedition 2006
Geophysicist
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Dr. Embley received a PhD in Marine Geology and Geophysics from Lamont Doherty Geological (now Earth) Observatory in 1975 and came to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1979. He has been with NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Newport, Oregon and has since served as Team Leader for marine geology in the NOAA Vents Program. His more than 80 scientific publications include studies of a wide range of deep-sea features, including submarine canyons, sediment slides, fracture zones, the mid-ocean ridge, and most recently, intraoceanic arc volcanoes. He has participated in more than 50 oceanographic expeditions in the Atlantic, Pacific and Antarctic Oceans over 39 years and has experience with deep-towed cameras, sidescan sonars, manned submersibles and remotely operated vehicles. He has participated in all of the Submarine Ring of Fire expeditions since 2002 and served as chief scientist on the Submarine Ring of Fire expedition in 2004 to the Mariana Arc.
Leigh
Evans
Research Assistant
CIMRS Program, Oregon State University
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Leigh Evans has worked with the helium isotope lab at Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport Oregon for twelve years. His activities include the extraction of gases from water samples, chemical analysis of helium isotopes, the development of new methods and instrumentation, and the analysis helium isotope data. He graduated from San Diego State University with an MS and Lafayette College with a BS degree in Chemistry. Previous to his work at Hatfield he worked for five years with a manufacturer of chemical analysis instrumentation. He has participated in twelve oceanographic expeditions in the past twelve years. On the Ocean Exploration cruises he will be gathering samples of vent fluids for gas analysis.
Ron
Greene
Research Assistant
CIMRS Program, Oregon State University
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Ron Greene has been part of the NOAA Vents chemistry group working out of Newport Oregon. for 14 years. He is a Research Technician at OSU and earned his Bachelor Degree in Geological Oceanography from the University of Washington. He specializes in the collection and processing of seawater samples for helium along with the data analysis. The degree of mantle enrichment of helium isotopes 3He and 4He, found in the seawater samples, is determined using a high vacuum extraction lab and an extremely sensitive mass spectrometer in Newport. Ron finds many aspects of the work and travel interesting. He also enjoys shipboard life as he used to fish commercially and spent time in the Navy
Julie Huber
NASA Astrobiology Institute Postdoctoral Fellow
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA
Julie received a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology from Eckerd College and a PhD in Biological Oceanography from the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the subseafloor biosphere associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vents and uses low temperature hydrothermal diffuse fluids as a window into the subseafloor microbial habitat. Julie is especially interested in heat-loving organisms, or thermophiles, and she uses a combination of methods to link microbial groups with their metabolic and physiological functions in the subseafloor. This is her first deep-sea adventure outside of the northeast Pacific Ocean, where she logged many research cruises studying the subseafloor microbial populations at hydrothermal vents along the Juan de Fuca Ridge. She is also interested in the origin and evolution of early microbial communities in extreme environments, astrobiology, microbial biogeography, and technological developments for deep-sea and space exploration and experimentation.
Ben Larson
Graduate Student
University of Washington
Ben Larson is a graduate student in chemical oceanography at the University of Washington in Marvin Lilley's lab. He will be working on shipboard gas chromatographic analysis of volatile concentrations in the sampled fluid. He will determine the amount of dissolved H2, CH4, and N2O in the fluids. The chromatographic data collected at sea is not as detailed as the information that can be obtained from a more advanced land-based apparatus, which can measure the concentrations of a greater number of the dissolved volatile components. However, it is an important component of an exploratory cruise because it yields information about the fluids within a day of their collection. This information is critical in determining where to explore for new hydrothermal venting sites.
Susan Merle
Senior Research Assistant
CIMRS Program, Oregon State University
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Susan graduated in 1993 from the University of Washington with a BS degree in Oceanography, emphasizing marine geology and geophysics. Previous to her 8+ years of work with the Vents program, she worked for five years in the seafloor survey industry. Susan specializes in seafloor data acquisition, processing, analysis, three-dimensional rendering of ocean features and their geological interpretation. She manages large data sets that include bathymetry, sidescan/backscatter, seafloor sample information, and real-time logging system data collected by a variety of seafloor remote sensing systems. Susan has been the web coordinator on four previous OE signature expeditions (Submarine Ring of Fire 2002-2005), and will resume that role for the OE Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 web site.
Ko-ichi Nakamura
Marine Chemist
National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology
Institute for Marine Resources and Environment, Japan
Ko-ichi Nakamura has been sailing with the VENTS program personnel since the 1993 Japanese-American joint cruise to the Southeast Pacific Rise on the R/V Melville. He had visited the Mariana submarine volcanoes for the first time in 1985 with Bob Stern on the old R/V Thompson. He participated in two Submarine Ring of Fire cruises (2003 and 2004) with Bob Embley on the new R/V Thompson. In October-November 2005 he led the international team of the JAMSTEC R/V Natsushima - ROV Hyper-Dolphin cruise in the northernmost part of the Mariana Arc. During his fifth cruise to the Mariana volcanoes he will be studying particles both in hydrothermal fluids and plumes using laser-particle analysers, as well as by sampling and studying the reduced environment distribution around vents using redox sensors. He will also attempt to pick up his redox sensor deployed with UW sensors in the summit crater vent of Nikko Seamount last November.
Joseph Resing
Chemical Oceanographer
JISAO, University of Washington
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Joe is a research scientist at the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and the Ocean, a cooperative institute between the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and the University of Washington. He is an affiliate assistant professor of Chemical Oceanography at the UW School of Oceanography. Joe studied chemistry at DePaul University and earned his Master's and Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography at the University of Hawaii. Joe has participated in over 20 major oceanographic expeditions and has spent more than a year's worth of days at sea. In his spare time, Joe likes to play basketball and soccer. He likes to coach his 8 year old son's soccer and basketball teams and looks forward to coaching his 5 year old daughter in her sports endeavors as well.
Lori L. Savage
Educator at Sea
Ma, BS.
Rogue Community College Instructor
Lori has been an Adult Basic Education instructor for nine years for Rogue Community College. Interspersed with math and science classes for the GED, she has also taught Biology and A&P for Rogue Science department. Her educational background includes a BS from Univ. of Redlands, CA. and a MA in biology from CSU Dominguez Hills. Lori served two years in the Philippines as an agroforestry peace corps volunteer, and has also taught high school in Los Angeles’ inner city. On the cruise, Lori will act as a research assistant and an educational liaison.
Boku Takano
Geochemist
Professor Emeritus
University of Tokyo
Boku Takano is a retired geochemist who has been working on geochemistry of intermediately-oxidized sulfur species in aquatic systems, especially on sulfur species in active crater lakes, including molten sulfur. Seeking various types of active crater lakes, Boku has visited New Zealand, Indonesia, Kamchatka, Costa Rica and Argentina. Based on the variation of polythioates (SxO62-) in the lake water, he has monitoredsublimic fumarolic activity, which is likely to forecast a phreatic eruption in the lake. Boku spent thirty-six years teaching students chemistry at the University of Tokyo, and this is his forth year after retirement. He is now a part-time lecturer at two private universities, and a kitchen geochemist at the same time. That means Boku is stillmonitoring polythionates in Yugama crater lake, Kusatsu-Shirane volcano,Central Japan, using a 20 years old HPLC system on his desk at home. He will take this old friend along on this cruise to analyze sulfur species in hydrothermal fluid. Boku is used to walking around subaerial volcanoes, but this is the first time he will work on submarine volcanoes on board a ship. Boku is feeling a little uneasy about this new experience, but also is very curious for it indeed.
Verena Tunnicliffe
Canada Research Chair in Deep Oceans
Professor, University of Victoria, Canada
As a keen enthusiast of marine biology, Verena Tunnicliffe has worked on mudflats, coral reefs, fjords, seamounts and deep-sea environments. Her work focuses on animal adaptations to the challenges of the physical, chemical and geologic world. Her work on hot vent communities has included an examination of how animal vent faunas around the world are related. She has pursued interests in technological advances to improve deep ocean studies and is currently director of a cabled observatory project called VENUS.
Sharon Walker Oceanographer
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Sharon Walker has been an Oceanographer at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, WA since 1979, and a member of the NOAA Vents program since it began in 1984. Sharon specializes in the development of methods and instrumentation for the detection, monitoring and mapping of hydrothermal plumes, including the PMEL MAPR. She has participated in numerous research expeditions to mid-ocean ridges and submarine arc volcanoes. During this expedition, Sharon will collect hydrographic and optical data with the CTD, and with MAPRs during other operations.
Jason II Team
Alberto Collasius Jr.
Engineering Assistant III
Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Robert Elder
Engineer II
Woods Hole Deep Submergence Laboratory
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Phil Forte
Mechanical Engineer
Woods Hole Deep Submergence Laboratory
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Phil has been with the Jason group for about 2 years now. While at sea he works as a mechanical technician and Jason pilot, between cruises he's a mechanical engineer back at Woods Hole. Prior to Phil's Jason time he was an Alvin pilot, starting with WHOI back in 1998. He got his interest in oceanography via scuba diving like many others by watching Jacques Cousteau and Seahunt on TV, that's right, Seahunt. Although driving Jason is a thoroughly enjoyable aspect of going to sea, watching the seafloor via video camera is just not the same as seeing it out of the Alvin viewport and knowing that it's only several feet away.
Robert Fuhrmann
Engineer
Woods Hole Deep Submergence Laboratory
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Robert works as a Jason II ROV support engineer for electrical systems and navigation. Interests include supporting science teams in remote cold weather regions (Arctic/Antarctica).
Will Handley
Navigator and Camera Specialist
Woods Hole Deep Submergence Laboratory
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Will joined WHOI’s SSSG group in 1992. He sailed on the research vessels Knorr and AII full time until 1997. Since then he has been working with The Deep Submergence Laboratory (DSL) as a navigator and camera specialist. When he is not working with DSL, Will provides science technical support in the Arctic. He also provides technical support for aerial camera systems. Will is married with three young children and lives in a small village in the Cotswolds just outside Gloucester in the United Kingdom.
Dara Scott
Navigator
Will Sellers
Senior Engineering Assistant II
Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Akel Sterling
Sonar ROV data specialist
Akel was born and raised in Massachusetts, before moving to Hawaii at the age of 13 when he started to surf. He received a Bachelors degree in Geology and Geophysics in 1998, and a Masters in Marine Geophysics in 2003 - both from the University of Hawaii. His thesis investigated plate tectonic models derived from hot-spot chains. Akel has worked for the Hawaii Mapping Research Group since 2001 and has traveled widely, mainly around the Pacific Ocean, as a part of his job. His main duties include processing acoustic data from different systems, and he is also involved with the data systems onboard the Remotely Operated Vehicle 'JASON.'
Jim Varnum
Bob Waters
Jason Pilot / Electronics Engineer
Waters Edge Benthic Services
Lake Arrowhead, California
Bob is a veteran of over sixty cruises. He is a former Alvin pilot and now contracts to WHOI for Jason operations support. Bob has been piloting Jason since 1996. When not working on Jason operations he develops electronics and software for scientific instrumentation.
R/V Melville Team
Chris Curl
Master
Murray Stein
1st Mate
Eric Wakeman
2nd Mate
Alejo Alejo
3rd Mate
William Kamholz
Bosun
Cletus Finnell
AB
Edward Keenan
AB
Brian Mattheisen
AB
Paul Shute
OS
Robert Seeley
Sr Cook
Dax McTaggert
Cook
Paul Bueren
Chief Engineer
Dennis Barclay
1st A/E
Patrick Fitzgerald
2nd A/E
Ernie Juhasz
3rd A/E
John Boing
Electrician
Charles Hall
Oiler
John Baon
Oiler
Manuel Ramos
Oiler
Robert Juhasz
Wiper
William Brown
Wiper
Cambria Colt
Resident Technician
Dan Jacobson
Computer Technician
