In 2005 the ENDEAVOR will take 5 NSF sponsored research programs to sea. Four are from the Chemical Oceanography program and one is from the Microbial Observatories program. The ship will spend 5 months in the Mediterranean and Black Seas starting the first week in January where both ONR and NSF cruises will take place. The Endeavor has a schedule of 217 days, of which 108 are in support of NSF funded research programs. After the ship returns from the Med and Black Sea, the remainder of the cruises will work out of RI. This is a five year cooperative agreement, and funding for the years 2006-2009 will be renegotiated and will depend on the number of days at sea in support of NSF-funded research programs requiring the use of an Oceanographic platform.
Intellectual and Technical Merit The intellectual merit of ship operations lies in the fact that the ships serve as platforms from which oceanographic research is conducted. These programs have undergone rigorous evaluation and have been funded for meritorious reasons. The research programs could not be conducted without a safe, efficient, and well-equipped platform. Most of the NSF programs scheduled on the ship this year were funded from the chemical oceanography program. One program is a Microbial Observatory (MO), funded through the Biology Directorate.
Jim Murray (MO) will be studying microorganisms that control nitrogen transformations in low oxygen or suboxic environments. The ENDEAVOR will take this program to the Black Sea where such an environment exists. This work is critical to understanding life processes as nitrogen is an essential element in these processes. Human impact on the Black Sea is increasing the areas of low or suboxic environments that are leading to environmental and economic impacts of this region of the world.
Studies by Cindy Lee, Brad Moran, Tim Eglinton, and Edward Boyle deal with studying the global carbon cycle and global warming.
Broader Impacts The University participates in a large number of outreach programs which the ENDEAVOR operation plays both major and minor roles. URI is a major participant in the National Ocean Science Bowl. Local participants are given tours of the ship, if timing is good as well as transit rides again if the timing allows. Periodically the ship is accessible to the public with open houses. Routinely, in any given year, 15-20 ad hoc tours for 2 to 20 people are given to students from both URI and field trips from the local public schools. The University has an active outreach program called the Friends of Oceanography which regularly provides tours of the GSO campus. These tours feature the vessel and the laboratories giving to the general public insight on the research that is taking place both aboard the ship and at the institution.
The ENDEAVOR also participates in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) program. The MATE Center's mission is to help prepare America's future workforce for ocean related occupations. The MATE Center utilizes information from employers to improve and develop educational programs with a focus on marine technology. The ENDEAVOR hosts MATE students giving them on the job training working by side with our own Marine Technicians in an actual research environment.
