"The NEPTUNE Ocean Observatory: Interactive Networks of Remotely Operated Submarine Laboratories".
Host: Deirdre Meldrum
May 11, 2006
Location: EE 125, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Abstract:
THE EARTH, OCEAN, PLANETARY, AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES are
in a transformational period triggered by the confluence of technological advances
in sensor technologies, robotic systems, high-speed communication, nanotechnology,
and dramatically escalating capabilities to computationally simulate reality.
The NEPTUNE regional cabled ocean observatory capitalizes on these advances
and is part of a worldwide effort to develop coastal, regional, and global ocean
observatories. Novel database architectures and data-mining strategies will
be required as we accumulate vast reservoirs of data, indexed in time and space,
about how the terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric systems interact to support
the health and biodiversity of our planet.
Biography:
John Delaney is Director of the NEPTUNE Program and Professor of Oceanography
at the University of Washington. A marine geologist, his research focuses on
the deep-sea volcanic activity of the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the northeast Pacific
Ocean.
After receiving his BA degree in Geology from Lehigh University in 1964, he
received his MS in Geology from the University of Virginia while concurrently
working as a Mineral Exploration Geologist in Charlottesville. In 1977 he earned
his PhD in geology at the University of Arizona studying volatiles trapped in
the glassy rinds of mid-ocean ridge basalts. He joined the University of Washington's
School of Oceanography faculty in 1977, winning the Teaching Award in 1980 and
the Distinguished Research Award in 1991. He was a visiting scientist at the
Lunar and Planetary Institute and Johnson Space Center from 1977 to 1980.
He has served as chief scientist on over forty oceanographic research cruises,
many of which have included the Deep Submergence Vehicle Alvin and the Remotely
Operated Vehicle Jason. In September 2005, Delaney co-led the VISIONS '05 research
cruise, which successfully broadcast the first-ever live high-definition video
imagery from the seafloor. The general public was able to view these live broadcasts
from the Juan de Fuca Ridge via cable TV on the ResearchChannel and over the
web.
In the summer of 1998, Delaney led a joint expedition with the American Museum
of Natural History to successfully recover four volcanic sulfide structures
from the Ridge. This U.S./Canadian effort was the subject of a NOVA/PBS documentary.
Other activities and honors include being named a Fellow of the American Geophysical
Union in 1995; co-leading the development and launch of the REVEL professional-development
program that takes science teachers to sea; and serving on the NASA committee
planning missions to the moons of Jupiter, and on the NSF Advisory Committee
for Environmental Research and Education.
Email: talk@ee.washington.edu
Website: http://www.ee.washington.edu/research/colloquium/