Originally from Chile, Mauricio is a second year PhD student in Oceanography at Florida State University in Dr. Ian MacDonald’s lab. His research focuses on deep sea chemosynthetic communities, especially those those located in and around cold seeps. He uses photomosaicing techniques, HD video, high resolution bathymetry and geological software such as ARC GIS and … Continued
Jay is a 5th year Ph.D. student in the Biology Department at Temple University. His research focuses on the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa. Jay is interested in how OA affects calcification and other physiological processes, and hopes to expand this line of research in his future academic career. … Continued
Erik is a marine ecologist, specializing in deep-sea communities including deep-water corals and natural hydrocarbon seeps. Through his research, he hopes to better understand the impact of human activities in the deep sea. Current research in the Cordes lab includes monitoring of ocean acidification in the deep Gulf of Mexico and its influence on deep-water … Continued
A native Floridian, Andy David has been a NOAA researcher for 22 years at the Panama City Laboratory working on a wide range of topics including: identification of hatchery-reared red drum after their release into the wild, recruitment dynamics of juvenile snapper along Florida’s west coast, and the efficacy of Marine Protected Areas as a … Continued
Mike has worked as an ROV technician for DSSI for 12 years. He works with the sampling systems and basic marine hardware, and his main job is operating the winch. He is deeply interested in the science and wants to make sure the scientists are happy and that they get the results they want.
Originally from Japan, Toshi will be piloting the ROV with Don. Having worked for JAMSTEC previously, he has worked with ROVs for a long time. Toshi will remain with the ROV on the ship for a further 3 months as part of the ROV shakedown phase.
Mostly based in Montana, Doug has been working offshore since 1975. He has a background in seafloor hydrography, but on this cruise, he will be working on the ROV hardware and software systems, as well as cameras.
Don was hired to rebuild ROV Ocean Explorer MK3 for the expedition, and he works as a liason between the ROV crew and the scientists to make sure that the goals of the expedition are achieved. His background is primarily in manned submarines such as the Johnson-Sea-Link, but he has also worked with ROVs previously.
Hayley is in the last year of her PhD program in physical oceanography at the University of Washington in Seattle. She previously completed an undergraduate and Masters degree in Physics at the University of Alberta in Canada. Her current research focuses on ‘internal waves’ in the Arctic Ocean, and how their energy and mixing has been … Continued
Spencer Kawamoto is a development engineer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He started at Scripps in 1999 as an intern and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at UCSD in 2000, joining the Scripps Hydraulics Lab permanently. He is a expert field engineer with research interests in coastal oceanography and has spent many … Continued
