Ship Operations - R/V SALLY RIDE Cy 17

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

Part 1: Boarder Impacts Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) proposes to operate the research vessel Sally Ride to support NSF-funded scientific research in the year 2017. As a large shared-use facility scheduled within the collaborative framework of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), Sally Ride will host scientists from across the United States and undertake research in a variety of disciplines. The ship will be operated in a manner that promotes efficiency, capability, and safety in order to maximize NSF's investment in this shared-use facility, and the programs that are conducted on board. A key element of our approach is preparing the vessel, crew and technicians to rapidly accommodate radically different scientific missions during brief in-port periods, involving extensive loading, offloading, laboratory reconfiguration, and installation of project-specific deck equipment. The operating tempo of expeditionary oceanography requires a carefully planned yet flexible approach to vessel maintenance, regulatory compliance, foreign clearance, crewing and working with scientists, which we will execute so that projects can be completed successfully and on schedule. Part 2: Intellectual Merit: The observation, measurement, and collection of samples and data are accomplished on a global scale by operations aboard Sally Ride. SIO-operated ships have played a critical role in the exploration of our planet since 1907, and continue to contribute significantly to the U.S. ocean research effort. The seagoing operations proposed here enable transformative scientific research in physical and biological processes in the natural environment upon which human well-being depends. The intellectual merit of this proposal is amplified by the combined merit of research projects undertaken by scientists on board. During 2017, Sally Ride will support four NSF-sponsored research cruises in the eastern Pacific Ocean to conduct research in marine ecology, marine chemistry, ocean observing, and physical oceanography. NSFsponsored research (including Ocean Observing Initiative research) will account for 19% (39 days) of Sally Ride's work this year. The remainder of the work will be supported by the Navy (110 days, 55%), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (26 days, 13%), and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (27 days, 13%). Each program contributes its own distinct intellectual merit. Broader Impacts: The proposed work constitutes strongly collaborative, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional use of shared-use research and education infrastructure. As a charter member of UNOLS, SIO is actively involved in coordinating research vessel operations with scientists and funding agencies so shipboard capabilities can best meet the current and anticipated research needs of the entire community. The spectrum of research projects enabled by SIO's operation of Sally Ride achieves far-reaching broader impacts through the operation and maintenance of infrastructure that is critical to the promotion of training and learning, increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in research, advancing scientific and technological understanding and informing policy making. SIO's proposed operation of Sally Ride enables institutional programs to directly advance NSF's mission to promote achievement and progress in science, engineering and education for the benefit of the nation. In the five-year period ending in 2016, 1,026 graduate students, 448 undergraduate students, and 131 K-12 and college educators obtained first-hand experience at sea aboard SIO research vessels. Sally Ride is part of SIO's UC Ship Funds Program, which enables graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral researchers and early career faculty to pursue independent research and instruction at sea via an internal peer-reviewed competitive process. The vessel is also integral to SIO's K-12 education program In the Footsteps of Sally Ride, which integrates classroom instruction, hands-on practical experience, and shipboard telepresence to teach physical science to economically disadvantaged seventhand eighth-grade students in coherence with national science standards. As a shared-use resource for NSF-supported scientists, Sally Ride similarly contributes to the education, training and outreach missions of those scientists and their home institutions.