Commitment to Excellence in Oceanographic Research Operations
Excellence in seagoing operations of scientific research vessels is critical for many fields of oceanography. Schmidt Ocean Institute supports advanced marine science and technology development aboard R/V Falkor, including the following systems and activities:
• At-sea research aboard R/V Falkor, and its continuous technical and operational improvements
• Shipboard development, testing, and application of innovative scientific instruments and systems
• Support of remote ocean research and public engagement via telepresence and data streaming
• Shipboard high performance computing for at-sea process modeling and data analysis
Infrastructure, Platform, and Software Development for Marine Sciences
Technology innovation drives scientific progress. Schmidt Ocean Institute supports development and field testing of innovative high utility scientific robotic vehicles, instruments, platforms, software, web services, computational algorithms for marine data analysis and interpretation, and artificial intelligence systems, including the following:
• Robotic research and survey vehicles, including autonomous aerial, surface, and underwater systems, etc.
• Deployable scientific platforms and analytical instruments (sensors, observatories, samplers, etc.)
• R&D of software, AI/ML, and other computational algorithms to accelerate ocean research and conservation
• Technology research, development, trial, and demonstration projects as part of Falkor cruise program
Collaborative Scientific Research at Sea
Schmidt Ocean Institute provides researchers from around the world with access to Falkor as well as robotic seagoing systems to foster deeper understanding and more scalable conservation and management of the global ocean through technological innovation. We support the following types of projects:
• Environmentally focused and societally relevant ocean research and technology R&D
• Projects with high intrinsic scientific value and meaningful impact potential
• Research effectively leveraging, testing, and demonstrating innovative technologies
• Oceanographic research encouraging student and artist participation
Communications, Education, and Outreach Program
“The purpose of this ship, as she leaves on her various missions, is to communicate about the science of the oceans to people so that they can care about it. We can’t take care of something that we don’t understand and we can’t care if we don’t know.” – Wendy Schmidt, March 6, 2012. Our communications program includes the following activities:
• Telling the story about every project supported by Schmidt Ocean Institute
• Supporting continuous online presence and resources for our virtual visitors
• Holding workshops and symposia to discuss progress and future directions
• Encouraging partnerships, as well as student, and educator participation
Open Sharing of Information, Data, and Research Outcomes
Schmidt Ocean Institute supports open sharing of acquired scientific observations, data, and other information about the oceans to stimulate the growth of data applications and user community, and amplify further exploration, discovery, deeper understanding, effective conservation and management of our environment. These efforts are supported through partnerships with software developers and data management experts in the oceanographic community to enable standards-compliant sharing and boost the utilization of scientific information and data generated by Schmidt Ocean Institute.
