National Science Foundation
makes $3 million grant to URI for ground-breaking Arctic expedition
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| SSV Oliver Hazard Perry. Photo by Onne van der Wal. |
URI’s
Graduate School of Oceanography’s Inner Space Center, an international facility
that supports and conducts ocean science research expeditions, will lead the
expedition, which will begin in August 2017.
“This
ground-breaking research and education project is a tremendous example of the
innovative and forward thinking approach GSO investigators and its partners are
applying to real world situations,” says Bruce Corliss, dean of GSO.
“It also
demonstrates the value of the partnerships and collaborations needed to broaden
the impact of ocean science research in order to effectively expand the
awareness of the environmental challenges that face the global community
today.”
The
consequences of climate warming are more pronounced and observable in the polar
regions than any place else on Earth.
The team will explore the changing Arctic through unprecedented educational and scientific endeavor, which centers around a five-week expedition on the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, the first full-rigged sailing ship to enter the Northwest Passage in more than a century.
Two
groups, each consisting of 18 students—six high school students, nine undergraduate
students and three graduate students—will sail for 17-day legs of the
expedition. The students will receive science instruction as the ship is
underway, gain navigation and sailing skills and work alongside ocean
scientists as they conduct Arctic research.
The 18 undergraduate students will
be from the Minority Serving Institutions. There will be a nationwide
application process for high school and graduate students.
The
students will also contribute to daily live broadcasts from the Arctic that will
stream from the ship via satellite to the Inner Space Center, which will then
send the live broadcasts to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of
Natural History, the Exploratorium in San Francisco and Alaska Sea Life Center
in Seward, where audiences will be able to interact in real time with the
scientists and students aboard the ship.
In
addition to the live broadcasts from sea, the project will result in a
two-hour, ultra high-definition documentary for television.
The Minority
Serving Institutions and the three science museums will host screenings of the
film and events where the public can meet the expedition’s students and
scientists.
Gail
Scowcroft, associate director of the Inner Space Center and principal
investigator and director of the project, says she is delighted to receive the
grant.
“The
rapidly changing Arctic environment is an issue of global importance,’’
Scowcroft says.
“Broader impacts of Arctic research must include informing
policy, educating the citizenry to make sound decisions, and inspiring students
to become the next generation of scientists. Challenges to educating the public
and communicating the realities and impacts of the changing Arctic must be
overcome with credible, understandable science and proven methods of climate
education. The project meets these challenges.
"We are extremely grateful to the
National Science Foundation for giving us this opportunity, and we look forward
to bringing high school, undergraduate and graduate students along on the
expedition of a lifetime. We fully expect that the onboard team of filmmakers
led by David Clark, an award-winning film producer and director, will capture
the participants’ excitement so that the public can share in our journey.’’
“We
are blessed with a top shelf team,’’ says Scowcroft. More than 25 ocean science
researchers and educators from throughout the country will be involved. Brice
Loose, a GSO scientist and co-principal investigator of the project, will be
the chief scientist for the expedition and will lead the students in conducting
cutting-edge research. Inner Space Center Director Dwight Coleman, an
international leader in telepresence technology, will direct the shore-side
operations of the expedition.
“It’s
very exciting to partner with the Oliver Hazard Perry to
bring this telepresence technology to a tall ship interested in scientific
exploration and digital media in the modern age,’’ says Coleman. “This project
will allow us to innovate and experiment with new technologies and
methodologies that can lead to similar support for other ships to support their
scientific, educational and outreach missions.’’
Loose
says the team is grateful to the National Science Foundation for “recognizing
the unique and innovative nature’’ of the project.
“This
is a wonderful opportunity to sail the Northwest Passage in the tradition of
the polar explorers, but with the capacities to carry out 21st century
oceanography, including remotely operated vehicles, marine wildlife
observations and greenhouse gas analyzers,’’ says Loose. “Gail Scowcroft and
others deserve tremendous credit for putting together such an amazing
program.’’
The
scientists will depart from Newport in August 2017. The ship will sail to Pond
Inlet in Nunavut, Canada, where the scientists and students will begin their
research. The film crew will join the ship there.
“Our Northwest Passage
Project team will be part of history,’’ says Clark, “as we provide a visually
stunning and historically poignant platform from which diverse audiences will
experience a dramatically changing Arctic.”
The three-year Northwest Passage Project is a collaboration among GSO, the film company David Clark, Inc., and several other partners, including America’s newest tall ship, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, three science museums, PBS NewsHour Reporting Labs, and six Minority Serving Institutions: California State University Channel Islands; City College of New York; Florida International University; Texas State University; University of Illinois at Chicago; and Virginia Commonwealth University.
For
more information, visit www.innerspacecenter.org.
or contact the Northwest Passage Project Coordinator Andrea Gingras at
401-874-6524.
