Oregon State University (OSU) Ship Operations is awarded funding for operation of R/V Oceanus in 2012 to support scientific research funded by the National Science Foundation. The proposed work aboard Oceanus will provide seven different principal investigators with access to the sea on 17 different legs. Eighty-four percent (84%) of the 158 operating days scheduled on Oceanus will support NSF programs; other funding sources (Navy and NOAA) support the remainder of the year's schedule. R/V Oceanus begins 2012 with a 26-day transit from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to Newport, Oregon. Upon arrival, OSU will assume operational control of the vessel from WHOI. After a scheduled inspection in Mid-March, Oceanus will conduct her first cruise for OSU; Levine's multiyear project Science and Technology Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (C-MOP). Levine will conduct repeat cruises in the fall. Reimers follows with Continental Shelf Benthic Oxygen project, which will be augmented with a few days in order to add an ancillary project for McManus' Nd Isotope work. These two projects will reoccur in September. The remainder of the field season will largely be in support of Cascadia Fault monitoring work. Toomey, Carbotte, Bibee, and Carton will deploy and recover a large number of Ocean Bottom Seismometers over the course of summer and fall.
This is a five-year cooperative agreement, and funding for each year of the agreement will be negotiated and is dependent on the number of days at sea in support of NSF-funded research. R/V Oceanus is owned by the National Science Foundation and operates as a UNOLS ship, adhers to the UNOLS safety standards, and NSF inspections.
The broader impacts and technical merit of the research supported by Oceanus is addressed in the individual science proposals. In 2011 Wecoma carried out research funded primarily by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) including through the Ocean Observation Initiative (OOI). Principal Investigators (PIs) were primarily from OSU and NOAA as well as others from the University of Oregon and WHOI. In 2012 Oceanus will primarily support NSF funded projects with PIs from OSU and other institutions including U of O and WHOI, and WHOI, and NOAA work by NOAA PI Dr. Feely. Oceanus will also support two Navy funded projects. The supported research is expected to include scientists and graduate students from a variety of academic institutions as well as federal agencies. Work conducted by Oceanus will include biologic, chemical, physical and geological oceanographic investigations along with atmospheric science studies. It is expected that the research supported will enhance understanding of various oceanic and atmospheric processes, contribute to ecologic knowledge in the study areas and provide opportunities for graduate students in atmospheric and oceanic science to gain research experience at sea. Much of the work in 2012 will focus on expanding the body of knowledge of the Cascadia Fault. This unstable fault is similar to the boundary thrust fault near Japan that lead to the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunamis in the Spring of 2011.
OSU also provides opportunities for those not normally involved in oceanographic research to occasionally participate in at-sea operations. This has included various undergraduate students from several academic institutions, Teachers at Sea and v OSUs Hatfield Marine Science Centers (HMSC) volunteer group. In 2011, Oceanus hosted the first of its kind "At Sea PI Training Cruise" designed to prepare the next generation of at sea scientists operationally and administratively. Other public tours were provided to The West Coast Marine Librarians, Newport Elementary School (95 children), Trinity Lutheran High School in Bend Or, Oregon State University undergraduates, the Boy Scouts of America (three occasions), the Upward Bound Group (three chapters on three occasions), the GSOC, Waldport Or Elementary School, the Governor of the State of Oregon, Top Officials from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Congressional Staffers, and the Newport Catholic School.
