Oceanographic Technical Services, R/V Oceanus, 2012-2016

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

Oregon State University proposes to support technical services on R/V Oceanus, a 177? general purpose research vessel as part of the US Academic Fleet scheduled by University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). The vessel is owned by the National Science Foundation. The proposal requests support for both basic and specialized services. For basic services, they will provide one or two shipboard technicians on each cruise of R/V Oceanus to support seagoing research projects and to maintain, calibrate and provide for qualified users items from their pool of shared-use research instrumentation. As part of specialized services, they will continue to operate and maintain the NORCOR facility, a shared use coring facility available to all operators. The SWAP program, which was previously funded under this program as a specialized service will be discontinued. Budget constraints have made it impossible for the Program to continue to support this endeavor. It will be supported, to the extent possible, through basic services. The budget included with this report is for the first year of a 5-year continuing grant. Broader Impacts The principal impact of the present proposal is under criterion two, providing infrastructure support for scientists to use the vessel and its shared-use instrumentation in support of their NSF-funded oceanographic research projects (which individually undergo separate review by the relevant research program of NSF). The support of maintenance and operation of shared-use instrumentation allows NSF-funded researchers from any US university or lab access to working, calibrated instruments for their research, reducing the cost of that research, and expanding the base of potential researchers.