
NSF Org: |
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | February 7, 2014 |
Latest Amendment Date: | February 7, 2014 |
Award Number: | 1360666 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Rose Dufour
rdufour@nsf.gov (703)292-8811 OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
Start Date: | February 15, 2014 |
End Date: | January 31, 2015 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $69,257.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $69,257.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
17 BIOLOGICAL STATION ST. GEORGE'S BD GE01 (441)297-1880 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
BD |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | SHIP OPERATIONS |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
Overview:
This grant will support a CST cruise on the R/V Atlantic Explorer from Barbados to Bermuda
in May and June 2014. Chief Scientist Training (CST) cruises are part of an educational initiative
designed for young US oceanographers, from senior graduate students to junior faculty, to
increase their participation in seagoing research by educating them about the capabilities
and opportunities provided by the UNOLS research fleet. In addition to providing sampling
opportunities for individual research, a CST cruise is specifically organized to teach cruise
participants how to successfully plan and execute a research cruise, from proposal to post-cruise
reporting. Cruise participants will be selected based on the feasibility of their proposed
science objectives, with an additional goal of maximizing scientific, societal and geographic
diversity of the participants.
Intellectual Merit :
The ship track covers a oceanographically important transitional area in the western subtropical
Atlantic, and thus the participants will be able to obtain scientifically valuable data in
addition to gaining valuable skills and training that will help them to plan and execute successful
cruises in their future careers.
Broader Impacts :
The CST cruise will help develop future expertise in the US oceanographic community by reducing
the barriers to participation of young scientists in seagoing research, particularly those
scientists from non ship-operator institutions. The activities proposed will help to disseminate
information about the research opportunities that are provided by NSF and the UNOLS research
fleet. The training and workshop activities are projected to increase the number and breadth
of future proposals requesting ship support as well as to improve the quality of execution
and success of funded cruises. The CST cruise opportunity will also help to broaden the
geographic representation of the research community that is involved in ship-based scientific
studies as well as increase the diversity of this community.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The Chief Scientist Training (CST) cruise initiative was developed in light of concerns that ship utilization statistics indicate a decreasing trend in the participation of young oceanographers in the submission of proposals requesting shiptime, and also in serving as Principal Investigators or Chief Scientists on research cruises. Young scientists often lack knowledge about NSF support for seagoing research activities and UNOLS (the consortium of US academic institutions and National Laboratories organized to coordinate the federally funded ocean research fleet). Especially at non-ship operator institutions, junior faculty and students are often unfamiliar with the process for writing successful proposals with a shiptime component, and are unaware of NSF facilities (e.g. shared used equipment, vans and winches) that are available to support seagoing needs of individual researchers.
The goal of this project was to reduce these hurdles perceived by young oceanographers by providing them with seagoing experience and research opportunities and with training in how to plan and execute a successful research cruise. The grant funded a 9-day south to north transect cruise across the western subtropical Atlantic from Barbados to Bermuda. Thirteen early career scientists, ranging from graduate students to assistant faculty, were selected as cruise participants. The participants were engaged in every aspect of the research cruise, from pre-cruise planning to cruise execution to post-cruise assessment and reporting. Participants organized telephone conferences for cruise planning and coordinating sampling activities and logistics. While on the cruise, participants carried out their individual sampling programs but also participated in daily meetings to collectively update the cruise plan and sampling activities, which provided them invaluable experience in the myriad factors and considerations that are essential for successful cruise execution. Marine techs and ship crew were also invited to the daily science meetings to discuss their roles in support of science, which promoted invaluable cross-training to all with the goal of facilitating improved scientist-ship support communications. Opportunities for one-on-one science and career discussions with the PI and the co-cruise mentor, a renowned seagoing biological oceanographer, provided invaluable mentoring. After the cruise arrived in Bermuda, a workshop was held at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) where participants learned in depth about NSF ship operations, UNOLS, NSF support available for seagoing research, oceanographic data management.
The project overall had an enormous impact on the participants' understanding of the US research fleet and how to propose, organize and execute a seagoing research project from start to finish. The cruise activities also greatly increased confidence in planning a seagoing research project. Directly as a result of the training provided by this grant, several participants have recently submitted or plan to submit proposals that include ship time.
The opportunities for sampling provide by the CST cruise also have made a large contribution to the individual research endeavors of many participants, contributing to their PhD thesis research, postdoc research and/or exploratory projects to development new funding. Several participants used the cruise opportunity to develop/test instrumentation and analytical methodologies that have the potential to translate to engineering or other science disciplines (e.g. optical instrumentation, molecular characterization of dissolved organic matter, genetic diversity of oil-degrading bacteria). Cruise participants have utilized data from samples collected on the cruise in proposals. One paper has been published and several papers are i...
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