Mountains in the Sea 2004 Explorers
Susan Mills
Jon Moore
Lauren Mullineaux
Jim Newman
Tom Orvosh
Diana Payne
Webb Pinner
Anne Simpson
Mike Vecchione
Dr. Les Watling
Louis L. Whitcomb
Dave Wright
Lance Arnold
Dr. Peter Auster
Ivar G. Babb
Mercer Brugler
Dr. Scott C. France
Ruth Gibbons
Allan Gontz
Mary Grady
Todd Gregory
Kari Heinonen
John Howland
Catalina Martinez
Mike McKee
Jim Miller
Teacher
Trollad High School
Mr. Arnold is a 34-year veteran life science and oceanography teacher at Tolland High School in Tolland, Conn. He is a board member of South Eastern New England Marine Educators (SENEME) and often presents at conferences on subjects relating to Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish and related Cnidaria (a phylum of marine organism with stinging cells called nematocysts). His essays have appeared in the SENEME journal Nauplius and in Current, which is the National Marine Educators Association journal. His Ocean Sciences Bowl team has competed nationally.
Fish Biologist
National Undersea Research Center
University of Connecticut
Peter Auster received his PhD from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is the science director of the National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut. His research in fish habitat conservation has earned him national recognition, and NOAA named him an Environmental Hero for the Year 2000 for his ecologic research at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. His 30 years of diving and research have taken him from the deep lakes of Africa to the reefs of Bonaire and have included hundreds of dives using occupied submersibles and remotely operated vehicles. Often working with Dr. Les Watling, he investigates the impacts of mobile fishing gear on benthic communities off the New England coast.
Director
National Undersea Research Center
University of Connecticut
Principal Investigator —Mountains in the Sea
Ivar G. Babb is director of the National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut, North Atlantic and Great Lakes Regions, located at the Avery Point Campus. Researching the physiological ecology of seaweed, he received his MS from the University of Maine. He then received a MA in marine affairs from the University of Rhode Island. His current research focuses on the development of innovative educational programs to link research and education and the development and application of new technologies for education. Mr. Babb is currently the Principal Investigator on both the NSF-sponsored Classroom of the Sea project that is developing innovative science educational opportunities for deaf learners and the NOAA-sponsored Aquanaut Program that provides science teachers hands-on research opportunities. He has participated on 37 research and education cruises in the Atlantic, Great Lakes, and abroad. His field experience includes underwater imaging and video analysis, digital encoding, fish tagging, side scan sonar, laser line scan, and geographic information systems. Other research interests include the ecology of kelps, the foraging behavior of fishes, and factors influencing the distribution of pelagic fishes
Graduate Student
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Mercer Brugler earned his MS at the College of Charleston and has recently entered a PhD program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Mr. Brugler learned to scuba dive in high school. His appreciation for marine life took him to the University of Miami, where he majored in marine biology and minored in chemistry. As an undergraduate, he spent his summers at the Dallas World Aquarium, working directly with manatees, crocodiles, and various fish. For his master’s degree, Mr. Brugler analyzed the mitochondrial genome of a deep-sea black coral (Antipatharia) and a tube anemone (Ceriantharia). His PhD research will focus on evolutionary patterns within the Antipatharia. He has visited the deep-sea floor twice in the submersible DVS Alvin.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Co-Principal Investigator–Mountains in the Sea
Dr. Scott France, who received his PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, has studied the evolution of deep-sea invertebrates since 1986. He was attracted to a career in marine biology when, as a fine arts major at Concordia University, he took an elective course in oceanography and learned about the discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents. He immediately switched majors, and has since visited the deep-ocean floor off the Mariana Islands, Hawaii, Galapagos, California, and in the North Atlantic. He has analyzed genetic variation of deep-sea invertebrates from a variety of habitats, including hydrothermal vents, abyssal plains, seamounts and trenches. Dr. France’s current research focuses on patterns of genetic variation in deep-sea octocorals and black corals.
Museum Specialist
National Marine Fisheries Service
National Systematics Lab
Ruth Gibbons received her BS in biology in 1980 from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She has worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Systematics Lab (NSL) for 22 years. The NSL is located in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Her job involves being a research assistant to lab scientists and doing administrative work. She enjoys participating on NOAA/NMFS/NEFSC resource survey cruises and other research cruises.
Graduate Student
University of Maine
Currently a PhD candidate in marine geology at the University of Maine, Allan Gontz is a geologist, who typically works on the processes and features related to the evolution of estuaries and shallow regions of the continental shelf. During Mountains in the Sea, the water depth will be, at times, 100 to 1,000 times deeper than he sees in estuaries and shelves, but the tools he uses are applicable. He has applied geophysical techniques for geological investigations, habitat mapping, marine archaeology, locating marine resources, marine salvage, and harbor maintenance. His contribution to the research is processing the swath multibeam bathymetric data into a form that can be used for dive planning and dive operations, to provide insight into the recent evolution of the seamounts, and to keep the biologists "grounded."
Adjunct Instructor
Department of
Earth ScienceNortheastern University
Mary Grady is an adjunct instructor in Earth science at Boston's Northeastern University, and she teaches geography and environmental studies at Rhode Island College (RIC) and Bristol Community College in Mass. Many of her courses teach non-science majors the basics of how science works. Mary taught marine geography at sea aboard the square-rigged tall ship Rose. She has a master's degree in geography from the University of Hawaii, and completed her undergraduate work at the University of Rhode Island and RIC. For more info and a CV, go to www.marygradyonline.com
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Mechanical Engineer and Pilot
Todd is affiliated with University of Rhode Island’s Institute for Archeological Oceanography and the Institute for Exploration (IFE).Working in concert with Jim Newof Woods Hole Marine Systems, Inc., Todd was the mechanical designer of IFE’s most recent remotely operated vehicle, Hercules. This summer, he will pilot the IFE vehicles and be responsible for their mechanical and hydraulic systems.man
Graduate Student
University of Connecticut
Kari Heinonen is a PhD student in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). She completed her BS in biology at Eastern Connecticut State University, and is currently finishing her MS in biological oceanography at UCONN. Her research interests include the effects of bottom trawling on benthic habitats, fish behavior, and invasion ecology. On this mission, she will be working with Dr. Peter Auster, studying the ecology of deep-sea fishes and how they behave within particular landscapes on the seamounts.
Senior Engineer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Adjunct Engineer, Institute for Exploration
Jonathan Howland has been working with underwater systems for 22 years, with a primary focus on mapping and imaging systems. In recent years, he has become involved in remotely operated vehicle control system development, and along with others, he developed the software systems that control Hercules and Argus, the camera and processing systems that are used for photomosaicing, and the logging systems that collect all of the digital data.
Expedition/Web Coordinator
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration
Catalina Martinez joined NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration (OE) as a Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Sea Grant Fellow in 2002. Ms. Martinez completed a master’s degree in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island (URI) Graduate School of Oceanography in 2000, and she also received a second master’s degree in marine affairs from URI in 2002. While in graduate school, she spent several years developing and implementing inquiry-based marine environmental programs that included field-based and classroom components. These educational programs included a ship-based oceanography program on board the URI research vessel, Cap’n Bert. Ms. Martinez has worked on fishery and other marine-related issues in various regions of the world’s oceans. Her most recent work with OE took her on research cruises to the Gulf of Alaska, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and the Caribbean in the vicinity of the Puerto Rico trench.
Information Technology Specialist
National Undersea Research Center
University of Connecticut
Mike received his master's degree in oceanography from University of Connecticut's Department of Marine Sciences in 2001. His involvement at NURC over the past three years includes web programming, database development, and multimedia analysis. He has also been involved in Ocean Explorer's integrated product team and will be serving a collaborative role as data manager on the Mountains in the Sea project.
Professor
Department of Ocean Engineering
University of Rhode Island
Jim Miller earned his BS in electrical engineering in 1979 from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, his MS in electrical engineering in 1981 from Stanford University, and his Doctor of Science in oceanographic engineering in 1987 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He was on the faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School from 1987 through 1995. Since 1995 he has been on the faculty of the Department of Ocean Engineering at the University of Rhode Island. His research interests lie in the application of acoustics to the study of the ocean, including biological, physical, and geological oceanography. He also has worked on acoustic tracking systems for marine mammals, obstacle avoidance sonar for ships, sonar for autonomous underwater vehicles, and recently, on acoustic systems for remotely operated vehicles. He co-founded a start-up company, FarSounder, Inc., that builds 3D forward-looking sonars. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America. He recently served on the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Noise in the Ocean and the NOAA Fisheries Panel on Acoustic Criteria for Marine Mammals.
Research Associate
Biology Department
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Susan Mills studies larval dispersal and colonization in marine invertebrates in a variety of coastal and deep-sea environments, including salt marshes, hydrothermal vent, and seamounts. On this cruise she will be working with Dr. Lauren Mullineaux, using video and still images to study distributions of several coral species. They will also be collecting samples for radiocarbon dating to determine the ages of individual colonies.
Assistant Professor
Wilkes Honors College
Florida Atlantic University
Jon Moore received a BS in geoscience and another in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona; he has a PhD in biology from Yale University. One area of his research is the biodiversity and distributions of deep-sea fishes. On this cruise, he and other fish biologists will be conducting fish transects, looking at spatial distribution, habitat use, and behavior of deep-sea fishes associated with the seamounts. Moore will also catalogue the biodiversity of the organisms collected by the remotely operated vehicle. These specimens will be preserved and distributed to various researchers and museums.
Associate Scientist
Biology Department
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Lauren Mullineaux is a biological oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and faculty member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. She started out studying desert plant communities, but got hooked on oceanography after sailing on a research cruise in college. Currently, she studies the larval stages of marine invertebrates in order to understand how species disperse and colonize remote habitats. Much of her recent field work has focused on the ecology of Pacific deep-sea hydrothermal vents, but she is looking forward to exploring seamounts in the Atlantic.
Adjunct Engineer
Institute for Exploration
With bachelor's and master's degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jim Newman is an adjunct engineer at the Institute for Exploration (IFE). His career has focused on remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) for various scientific uses, and he has been responsible for building all of IFE’s underwater vehicles. Jim has participated in IFE expeditions to the Black Sea, Mediterranean, Hawaii, Lake Huron, and the Solomon Islands. Jim’s biggest thrill with IFE (so far) was using the brand new ROV Hercules to excavate a 4th century shipwreck that was in a phenomenal state of preservation, thanks to the lack of oxygen in the Black Sea. Jim has previously worked building ROVs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Jim operates Woods Hole Marine Systems, Inc.
Technical Services
University of Rhode Island
Graduate School of Oceanography
Tom received an AAS in applied oceanography and marine biology from Southern Maine Technical Institute in 1973 and a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Rhode Island (URI) in 1981. He has worked as a research electronics specialist for various groups at URI since starting full time in 1981. Tom's work with the Ballard ROV group arose from his technical support at URI during recent JASON Project broadcasts. He joined the team on a part time basis two years ago and participated in operations with the ROV Little Hercules at Thunder Bay, Mich. in 2002. In 2002-03 he assisted in the construction and testing of the new ROV Big Hercules and accompanied the team on the Black Sea Expedition in 2003. Presently, on board the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown, Tom is standing watch as pilot and providing tech support when the vehicles are not diving.
Biologist and Education Coordinator
Connecticut Sea Grant
Diana Payne is the marine education specialist at Connecticut Sea Grant. Her experience in marine and aquatic science and education has extended throughout New England and the Chesapeake Bay region, with a strong focus on teacher professional development and the integration of field and research science into the classroom. Ms. Payne is actively involved in professional organizations, including the Sea Grant Educators Network, Southeastern New England Marine Educators, and National Marine Educators Association. She was a member of the award-winning team that produced the education component for Deep East 2001. She is currently pursuing a PhD in science education at the University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education.
Graduate Student
Department of Ocean Engineering
University of Rhode Island
Webb Pinner is a graduate student in ocean engineering at the University of Rhode Island. He will be providing computer and networking support for both the Mountains in the Sea 2004 and Titanic expeditions. His role as "resident geek" will be to maintain all ship-based remotely operated vehicle computers as well as ship-based lab computers, and to assist in data logging tasks.
Graduate Student
University of Maine.
Anne Simpson is a graduate student in the marine biology PhD program at the University of Maine. Her research focus is the description of the reproductive biology of deep-water alcyonacean corals, especially gorgonians, about which almost nothing is known. On the Mountains in the Sea 2004 cruise, she will prepare coral tissues for later examination of reproductive structures with light and electron microscopy. The information gained from detailed morphological observations should provide insight into reproductive strategies of different coral species.
Squid Biologist
National Marine Fisheries Service
National Systematics Laboratory
Michael Vecchione went to sea as a cabin boy on a three-masted schooner in Maine at the age of 16. He completed undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Miami in 1972. He has worked on cephalopods since his graduate studies on planktonic mollusks from 1976-79 at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), the School of Marine Science for the College of William and Mary, where he earned his PhD. From 1981-86, he taught at McNeese State University and studied cephalopods, zooplankton, and ichthyoplankton. In 1986 he became cephalopod biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Systematics Laboratory (NSL), located at the National Museum of Natural History, where he is a research associate of the Smithsonian Institution. He has been director of the NSL since 1997. From 2000-02, he also served as the founding director of a cooperative marine education and research program between NMFS, Hampton University, and VIMS, where he is an adjunct faculty member.
Chief Scientist
Benthic Ecologist
University of Maine
A professor of oceanography at the University of Maine, Les Watling received his PhD from the University of Delaware. His research interests have principally spanned two area—crustacean taxonomy and phylogeny, and benthic oceanography. His benthic interests focus on the impacts of humans on benthic environments, with an emphasis on organic enrichment and habitat disruption. Recently, he was the co-sponsor of two symposia dealing with impacts of mobile fishing gear on ocean communities, such as the coral beds in the Georges Bank Canyons. His research projects have focused on the potential loss of marine biodiversity associated with fishing activities. He has conducted much of his current work using research submersibles like DSV Alvin.
Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Adjunct Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Louis L. Whitcomb's research focuses on the navigation, dynamics, and control of underwater vehicles. He will be working on the engineering and operations of the remotely operated vehicle Hercules' control and navigation systems. He is co-developer of the navigation and control systems employed on numerous deep-submergence robotic vehicles, and is the developer of the navigation system employed on the DSV Alvin.
ROV Engineering and Operations Support Contractor
Dave Wright wears many hats, dealing with the electrical, electronic, fiber-optic, and computer systems that make up the Institute for Exploration remotely operated vehicle systems. If something is not working properly, Dave will not be sleeping! He is a veteran of many cruises, having worked with the vehicles since their creation. Living in Moss Landing Cal., he contracts his services in all parts of the world.
