A complex web of tiny organisms too small to see with the naked eye governs the abundance of life in the ocean. Some harvest energy from the sun through photosynthesis while others consume the organic matter that the photosynthesizers produce.  To understand how those microbes flourish and pass along the energy from the sun, moving vast quantities of elements between the atmosphere and ocean, through the ecosystem and to the deep sea, we have to make observations at multiple places simultaneously in order to quantify what takes place over long periods of time and over vast areas. We also need to follow cohorts of organisms as they move with ocean currents over the course of many days to reveal how their underlying genetic capacity comes into play to facilitate global-scale biogeochemical processes.

With those considerations in mind, scientists and engineers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) teamed up with microbial ecologists at the University of Hawaii (UH) to devise a fleet of three autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with robotic samplers for collecting microbes and recording the corresponding environmental conditions under which they were found.  This project was dubbed MiVEGAS, which stands for Multiple Vehicle EcoGenomic Automated Samplers. The “ecogenomic” portion of that name reflects the objective of using the system to link organisms’ presence, abundance, and genetic expression to key environmental variables such as light and nutrient availability (etc.). 

Development of the MiVEGAS system was an outgrowth of the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE; http://cmore.soest.hawaii.edu/), a Science and Technology Center sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  One theme of C-MORE concentrated on developing tools and techniques for observing microbial communities and processes in the open sea.  Among C-MORE’s many accomplishments, the program was also instrumental in articulating the engineering specifications that an automated, mobile, microbial sampler needed to meet in order to address some of the fundamental questions that the C-MORE science team was investigating. That experience formed the basis of this project by revealing science problems that are not practical or possible to approach using traditional ship-based expeditions and manual sample collections alone.

To create MiVEGAS, the project team drew from preliminary studies that explored the basic mechanics and chemistry of automating microbial sampling using a robot known as the second-generation Environmental Sample Processor (2G ESP). Tests of the 2G ESP proved that it could acquire and preserve microbes autonomously with the same fidelity as a person handling samples manually.  However, the size of the 2G ESP (roughly that of a 50-gallon drum) precluded it from being integrated with a small AUV.  Thus, the MiVEGAS team set out to re-engineer the instrument and integrate it with MBARI’s Long-Range AUV (LRAUV).  This effort was bolstered with support from the NSF Ocean Technology Interdisciplinary Coordination program and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.  Those parallel programs offered MBARI an opportunity to devise a new, smaller class of ESP that not only could be used to collect samples from a mobile platform, but also analyze them immediately, in situ, for particular microbes or substances, and then transmit results of those tests wirelessly to shore.  The resulting product was a “3G” ESP/LRAUV hybrid that helped to shape the backbone of the MiVEGAS system.  In all, the science/engineering endeavor was made possible through a combination of private philanthropic and public investments, as well as engagements with the biotechnology and marine technology industries.

In Spring of 2018, the MiVEGAS fleet was launched in waters north of the Hawaiian Islands in conjunction with the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor, and with support from the Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology program (SCOPE; http://scope.soest.hawaii.edu/).  The test – a first of its kind– proved that the MiVEGAS system could be used to observe important microbial processes that form the basis of the food web in the open sea. At the time of this writing, the samples and information collected from the cruise are being analyzed and prepared for publication.  

As the MiVEGAS system was under development, it became apparent that it could also be used to collect bits of DNA shed from larger animals in both ocean and freshwater settings. This discovery led to a number of on-going field studies sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Geological Survey that are testing the 3G ESP in settings ranging from California coastal waters and freshwater streams, Lake Erie, the Yellowstone River, and the National Elk Reserve. In all cases, DNA extracted from water samples is being used to determine the presence and distribution of managed species, such as commercially important fishes, as well as pathogens, toxins, and non-native animals that threaten native ecosystems. 

The MiVEGAS fleet and supporting equipment was transferred to UH.  The vehicles are temporarily on loan to MBARI in support of NOAA-sponsored programs.

Last Modified: 03/28/2019
Modified by: Christopher A Scholin