Scientific Diving Support

Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs (NSF/OPP) sponsors and supports scientific research in polar regions ,where some sponsored projects involve underwater diving. The OPP Health and Safety Officer within OPP's Polar Research Support Section is responsible for developing and implementing a diving safety program addressing scientific diving activities in polar regions. The existing OPP diving safety program is patterned after the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) Standards for Scientific Diving. In order to augment in-house experience, OPP has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Smithsonian Institution, another government agency with expertise in conducting and managing scientific diving operations throughout the country. This MOA allows the NSF to utilize the knowledge, skills, and experience of the Smithsonian Institution's Diving Safety Officer in assisting OPP in managing its scientific diving operations in polar regions. This MOA mechanism provides a cost-effective mechanism for OPP to obtain scientific diving safety expertise on an as-needed basis. The MOA was initiated in November, 2001, with the understanding that each year in the late Spring a mutually agreed-upon annual tasking statement would be developed and appropriate funds set aside to support the initiative for the subsequent twelve-month period. Each year that annual tasking statement could be modified to reflect current needs at the time, so long as the requested activities were consistent scope of work defined in the MOA. Reference: NSF Jacket # 230540 (FY02)